I come from a large family but I was not raised with a fortune. Something more was left me, and that was family values. -Dikembe Mutombo

When I was about 12 years old, my small family of four went to Washington DC to see the nation’s capital. We stayed with the Plumb family. They were cousins of my Dad and I think they had 12 children. It was a whirlwind of activity in that household which was both exciting and not just a little bit overwhelming to me. At one point, Delores Plumb (mom to this huge brood) called out to no one in particular, “Has anyone seen Larry?” One of the girls called back, “How long has he been gone anyway?” Her mom replied, “I haven’t seen him in about 3 days, but then you know, at this age boys need their independence!” It was both hilarious and shocking to me, the oldest of 2 girls who didn’t even share a bedroom!

The Ayers family is NOT the Plumb clan, as you can see from the photo above. They’ve got 6 gorgeous kiddos, not 12, but at a recent baseball game at Chatard when Anthony Ayers, father of this terrific gaggle of smiles called out to his wife, Lauren wondering, “Do you know where Luke is? Ah hell, he’s probably with Adam…” it made me think back to the missing Larry Plumb and wonder if he ever did turn up, ha?

As we move on to the remainder of the summer, I find myself still thinking about all the really amazing Dads that surround me and today I wanted to take a minute to give a little shout out to Anthony Ayers. He’s a laid back guy, as well as a supportive and very involved father of six– 5 boys and little Mary. He laughs easily and doesn’t seem to worry too much about setbacks. He’s been hobbling around on a knee that recently was under the knife, but he just keeps moving and doing his day, and showing up for his kids many sporting events! He loves coaching his boys, especially in football, and he’s a very faith-filled guy who can be found at mass with his kids and his beautiful wife, Lauren, every Sunday without fail. They are always remarkably well-behaved in my opinion, and they really are great young people.

Men who lead their families in faith by their own example are truly living their vocation at the next level if you ask me, and Anthony Ayers is a fine witness of fatherhood to all around him. He’s a generous guy whose habit I’ve noticed is to give freely what he has to those around him without expecting anything in return. He’s a positive, quick-witted and character filled man who cares deeply about his family as well as his faith community. Anthony, I hope you had a very HAPPY FATHER’S DAY because you deserve it! I think you are THE REAL DEAL!!