I love tuna sandwiches. They remind me of my childhood. They take me right back to my mother's kitchen. Because tuna sandwiches were never found in the lunch pail. Nope they were weekend lunches, made by my mother and eaten within seconds of leaving the can. I was not a fan of mushy bread and my mother knew this.

My mother used lemon and celery and sometimes bits of sweet pickle or hard-boiled egg, and of course she used plain ole Star-Kist. Because as a kid I really liked Charlie and his efforts on behalf of that company! Such a riot watching him wanting to get caught! Only to hear the disappointing phrase "Sorry Charlie only good tasting tunas get to be Star-Kist"

But these days tuna is a tricky choice. Do we choose light tuna or white tuna. Are they the same thing made to sound different by marketing pros? Could it be that one is packed in water and the other oil? Or are they just different fish. Is one a greater risk of mercury than the other?

I have heard that "white" tuna is albacore. And that "light" is pretty much anything else. Can anything else include fish that's not really tuna? Could it include non-sustainable varieties such as longline yellowtail or bigeye? Should I support companies that harvest tuna in an irresponsible manner. How do I know what's what and who's who?

If there is one thing that is universally true, it's this: Sons are always trying to be half the man their old man was. Sometimes that formula gets tragically warped and a son spends his life trying to be twice the man his father was.

But this is really two sides of the same coin.

In my case I will have to settle for half the man.

Because my father is a doctor, and not just a doctor, but a children's heart doctor. And as if that is not enough he also volunteers his time at his local Free Clinic caring for the many of us who have fallen between life's ever widening cracks. He has even traveled to 3rd world countries where he meets and diagnoses kids with heart defects. Heart defects that would have otherwise gone on undetected and untreated.

People like my father with outsized talents (and undersized egos) are a rare breed. Sometimes being the son of a man like this is a little like climbing a ladder with uneven rungs. It's hard to know how much progress you are making, and if it's even worth the effort. But I guess that is part of being a son; to always wonder.