Editor’s Note: On July 16, 12 fathers completed a hike across England along Hadrian’s Wall to raise money for a nonprofit camp that helps children of adults with cancer. Atlanta Dads Group member Michael Moebes was one of them, and here he chronicles the experience.

Last week, we completed our much-anticipated walk from the Irish Sea to the North Sea along Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. It was the second life experience (the first one being going to war) I’ve had which I can now describe with the phrase, “I probably wouldn’t choose to do it again, but I wouldn’t take anything for the experience of having gone.”

Our journey began with a Friday night cookout in the backyard of our late friend Oren Miller‘s wife’s aunt, followed by a trip to the pub where he and his wife, Beth, met. Given the reason for our walk was to raise money for a Camp Kesem location at his alma mater in his honor, this seemed altogether fitting and proper. My children opened beer cans for extra pence, alternating between delighting and horrifying everyone, depending on the kids’ level of persistence (and begging).

We took a train from London to Carlisle the next morning and, after sleeping on a cot in an old gymnasium Saturday night, we shoved off for our trek from the Solway Firth at Bowness-on-Solway to Carlisle, assuming we’d stop soon for breakfast, but “soon” became 4+ hours and many miles, and I’ve never been happier to see a “Greyhound” sign (this one being a pub, not a bus depot), so we could finally sit down and have beers and food (in that order of importance).

We pressed on toward Carlisle, across pastures full of sheep, over gates, through tall grass, and finally into the city where we’d get nice beds to sleep in at the Ibis hotel on Sunday night. My Fitbit Blaze showed 40,000 steps for the day – over 17 miles. We gathered at The Griffin for dinner and some European football (interrupted by the drunken rants of a local woman, who insisted I should have “been there for her” in 1952 – this delighted my companions but mortified your storyteller).

The next morning (Monday), we bought foot care supplies, stopped by Carlisle Cathedral, and continued along the path.

Day 2 concluded at Sandysike farm, run by a nice couple who fed us and offered me whisky for my tired, post-30,000-steps-that-day feet, and I loved him for it.

Only the next day did I learn every shot cost £4.  My love dwindled a bit.

Finally seeing Hadrian’s Wall

Day 3 (Tuesday) promised to finally allow us to see remains of the Hadrian’s Wall, as so far, we walked the of path, but the stones themselves had been taken to build homes and cathedrals or whatever else the English wanted to do with Roman wall stones once they were no longer under Roman rule. I was excited.

Each day, we wore wooden name tags like the kids at Camp Kesem wear, and on the tags, we honored persons selected by donors of $100 or more of sponsorship.  The start of the wall seemed a good place for a lunch break and photographs, so we took advantage of it.

It was 30,000+ steps and was my favorite day of hiking thus far, since we had wall to look at and rolling hills to climb with the start of some great views from atop (little did I know how much this would improve on subsequent days). We stopped at our B&B/bunk house, and I was one of the lucky few to have a room with an attached shower (and, even better, the innkeeper did laundry for us!).  The next morning would be the first day of new topography–crags.

Beautiful but rainy

I loved hiking on day 4 (Wednesday). The scenery was the best we’d seen so far along Hadrian’s Wall, and it was our lowest day of mileage – under 10 miles (just over 21,000 steps), which seemed comparatively easy. Perhaps even lazy!

But then it started to rain. We were used to rain showers, but this day’s rain wasn’t a shower–it was torrential.  Because it was also our first day of significant hills, the group started to fracture into smaller groups after a bit, with a few folks electing to walk to the side of the steep inclines later in the day. This meant the water rushed at them from atop the rolling hills in the crags.  This photo only captures a portion of the misery:

I pulled up my hood, pulled the rain cover over my backpack, and continued along the wall in utter misery, as I quickly learned my “water resistant” hiking pants were not very resistant, and sheets of water poured down my legs and filled my socks and boots. I saw hikers coming toward me slip and fall down the crags I had to climb; I was glad I sprung for the hiking poles that were on sale at REI right before I left.

Eventually, the rain let up, and we broke off the wall path and headed south, completely fortuitously ending up at bunkhouse where we were slated to sleep. Everyone was drenched and miserable, but we made our way just up the street to the Twice Brewed Inn pub for some dinner and spirits, and when we walked outside, a double rainbow greeted us.

Steeper and steeper

Day 5 (Thursday) was physically harder, but it was my favorite day of the hike so far (and favorite of the entire hike, now that I have the benefit of hindsight). We climbed the steepest crags (even seeing an obelisk marking the highest point of the entire Hadrian’s Wall path), saw numerous milecastles and an old Roman temple, and stopped for pictures in the most photographed area of the path – Sycamore Gap (where scenes from Kevin Costner’s “Robin Hood” were shot).

The day ended at just under 14 miles (31,000 steps), and we stayed at Greencarts Farm for the night. After dinner, I won all the English equivalent of Chex mix that any of my opponents had in a very intense poker match.

Day 6 (Friday) was to be the longest and most difficult day of the Hadrian’s Wall walk. We left the crags fairly early in the day, and we crossed fields and pastures as we paralleled the old Military Road leading to Newcastle.

We started early, encountered some rain, and stopped just after noon at Errington Arms pub for a meal (and whisky shots) before pressing on toward the Robin Hood pub, built in 1752 from stones “borrowed” from Hadrian’s Wall, and eventually The Three Tuns for dinner and more whisky before we reached our quarters for the evening at Houghton North Farm at Heddon-on-the-Wall. When I sat down at the Three Tuns about 6:30pm, my legs, hips, and ankles were in agony. I had no desire to walk any further. We’d gone more than 20 miles–almost 44,000 steps. The next day would be our last day of the Hadrian’s Wall walk.

The final 40,000 steps

The final day (Saturday) meant more walking east along Military Road, but at some point, we were supposed to get into Newcastle upon Tyne, and that would mean we were near the end.

Seeing the river was the first sign of progress toward the end, and a few miles later, we entered the city, stopping for a meal about 1 p.m. More whisky was involved; my feet and legs were screaming.

We continued along the city sidewalks, and then Emperor Hadrian himself greeted us to tell us we were close.

We paused and regrouped for the last mile to the Segedunum fort – the end point. It was obviously going to be another 40,000+ step day.

Finally, we came to the fort and the stone that marked the eastern edge of Hadrian’s Wall. Jeff broadcast our walk’s conclusion live on Facebook. Brent placed Oren’s hat on the chunk of wall marking the end point (he’d carried it with him every day of the walk), and a couple guys placed wooden name tags bearing his name next to the cap:

I’ve seen on TV sometimes when people finish a marathon or an Iron Man competition, they shed tears from joy or relief or something, but I’ve never experienced it personally as either a viewer or a participant. But after walking 100 miles over seven days – nearly 40 of them the last 2 days – and seeing that chunk of stone with Oren’s cap on it, I’m pretty sure all of us wept; some, inconsolably. We were almost at our goal of $40,000 raised; we were all 12 together after having a few days where one or more of us was too injured to participate; we’d finished a quest that we’d discussed and planned and anticipated for over a year. Now it was over.

At almost midnight that night, we reached $40,000–the amount needed to finance a Camp Kesem at the University of Maryland. We met our goal in both distance and dollars. The quest truly was finished.

And all of us are better men for having participated.

+ + +

If you supported us during this walk, we greatly and sincerely appreciate it!  If you didn’t, it’s not too late – every $500 given above the $40,000 to set up the camp will go toward sending a child to camp there, so let the philanthropy continue! Here’s the link: dads4kesem.org.

A version of this first appeared on Dadcation.

Several members of the NYC Dads Group, kids in tow, will take a stroll through Central Park Tuesday, July 12, in a show of solidarity for a dozen fathers trekking across England to raise money for a camp for the children of cancer patients.

Our NYC outpost joins the Chicago and Detroit chapters of City Dads Group in rallying local fathers to help with the $1,000 contribution our organization has pledged to raise as a sponsor of the week-long Dads4Kesem hike in the United Kingdom. That UK walk hopes to raise $40,000 for Camp Kesem, a nonprofit offering free summer camps and other events for the 3 million children nationwide affected by a parent battling cancer.

The “Walking Dads” are hiking along England’s Hadrian’s Wall, a 84-mile fortification built in the first century A.D. that once marked the northernmost point of the Roman Empire. The goal of the July 10-16 journey is raising money to open a Camp Kesem chapter on the campus at the University of Maryland. The school is near the home of fellow dad blogger Oren Miller, who succumbed to lung cancer in 2015.

“Oren Miller was a friend to dad bloggers around the world. He was a great organizer, a great writer, and more importantly, a great dad,” NYC Dads Group member Jason Greene, one of the 12 “Walking Dads” on the hike, recently wrote on his blog. “I owe a lot to Oren and the rest of the dad blogging community.”

** Read about the Camp Kesem walk **

Editor’s Note: On July 12, City Dads Group sponsors the Dads4Kesem walk across the UK. Our goal: having our members and friends donate at least $1,000 in total to benefit the creation of the new Camp Kesem chapter at University of Maryland. In this post, one of those Dads4Kesem — and L.A. Dads Group member — Whit Honea writes about why he is making this trek.

Childhood. We all had one. We were all children and all that comes with it, and the experience thereof has greatly impacted our adult lives and our own parenting in ways that we may not fully understand. That’s where the similarities start to blur.

Many of us may look back upon childhood as an innocent tale of nostalgic wonder, checkered with bits of life lesson and pubescent awkwardness, but for others it might have been a time too full of hardships and obstacles — with varying degrees of loss — leaving childhood not something to cherish, but something they had to tolerate, survive and overcome. Cancer tends to play an active part in those stories, disrupting without rhyme or reason, and holding no regard for youth or the damage done to it.

Cancer is to childhood as cancer is to anything: cruel and destructive, the active march of the darkly uncaring. Most of us, unfortunately, have had our lives touched by cancer, whether we have faced it ourselves or love someone who did. Cancer is far too common, not only affecting those inflicted, but everyone around them. It leaves no stone unturned. Rather, it throws them all, aiming for everything breakable: hearts, bones, promises and windows.

For parents diagnosed with cancer, their journey is many things: unique and difficult, full of pain and a quest for hope, the pondering of so many unknowns, moments that cannot linger long enough and those that won’t go away. No two experiences are the same, but one common factor is the toll upon their children, the changes made and the innocence they are losing.

And while there is no way to fix such things, there is a way to allow those children a week of what once was — a way to enjoy childhood in an environment that embraces their respective experiences by providing a safe place to find those pieces of them grown faded and forgotten. It is a chance for childhood to be fun again.

Camp Kesem does that.

That is why on July 10, 2016, a group of 12 men, of which I am one, each with active voices in the online parenting world, will embark on a different kind of journey — more than 84 miles walking along Hadrian’s Wall in England — to raise donations for a new Camp Kesem chapter at the University of Maryland. The camp will honor the late Oren Miller, who attended Maryland (as did his wife Beth), and whose young children would be able to attend the camp.

Oren Miller was one of us. He founded a Facebook group of dad bloggers that has more than 1,000 members, and he shared his passions on life, love and family in endless conversations and written inspiration. He was a good man who lost his battle to cancer, a battle fought with amazing grace, and who has left a legacy behind him. We want to add to it.

The Dads4Kesem are hoping to raise the $40,000 required to start a new camp, and you can help. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using #Dads4Kesem and #TheWalkingDads to interact with our daily sponsors and the stories we’ll share, and you can make donations directly to our website.

The walk is for Camp Kesem, and it is for Oren — his wife and children, and the lives they have all touched — but it is even bigger than that, bigger than all of us. The walk is for childhood, what it is, can, and hope it should be. It is for a generation of stories yet to be written.

I am honored to be a part of it.

We asked some of our City Dads Group members to reflect on what they took away from attending the recent fifth annual Dad 2.0 Summit in Washington, D.C. Here are a few of their thoughts: 

Kevin “Spike” Zelenka, Las Vegas Dads Group

I’ve been to dad conventions, and I’ve been to blog conferences. The Dad 2.0 Summit was the first event I’ve ever attended that really met the need of who I am: a blogger and a parent. I can’t stop talking about the opening and closing keynotes. They both really spoke to me as a father, and in different ways. The other programming I attended had a blog focus, and I learned a ton that I couldn’t wait to implement once I returned home. The fact that they have found such a magical combination in only five years existence is incredible, and I’ve already bought my ticket for next year.

Adam Gertsacov, Chicago Dads Group

There were lots of … great things, and lots of great content, but for me, the No. 1 reason I keep on coming is the community. Being in a community of these great dads (many of whom are also great writers and raconteurs) is just plain exhilarating. As a dad, you have your wife as a person to talk with, but she’s your wife. You are related to her.

Having colleagues — work friends, if you will — with whom I can just hang out with for a few days, talk about parenting, and comic books, and make slightly obscure references to obscurer movies and books, and even on occasion talk about our hopes and dreams — this is why I want to come back to Dad 2.0

— Read Adam’s complete thoughts on his blog, Dadapalooza

Niel Vuolo, NYC Dads Group

Dad 2.0 — Was about connecting dads with brands. … about fellowship, community and trying new things. … about meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones (even old friends who ended up getting carded at the bar!). … It was also about sharing ideas and inspiration. I can’t wait to attack this year and be more extraordinary when I get to Dad 2.0 in 2017.

— Read Niel’s complete thoughts on his blog, Great Moments in Bad Parenting

Jay Wisniewski, Detroit Dads Group

Honesty. It flows throughout the halls and ballrooms once the summit has taken up its residency. At times you will feel more comfortable talking to a random group of dads that you’ve stumbled upon than you’ve felt talking to your friend back home. It almost comes naturally because somewhere in its five years of life the creators of the Dad 2.0 Summit have fostered the growth of a collective of fathers that celebrates the successes of one another, provides wisdom through their struggles and failures, but most of all, never falters on their dedication to honesty. There are no perfect dads and when you spend your days and nights with these men, you come realize that’s totally OK.

— Read Jay’s complete thoughts on his blog, Inked Up Dad

Creed Anthony, Indianapolis Dads Group

Editor’s Note: Creed wrote this as a letter to the late Oren Miller.

I imagined you watching and listening as so many new voices were added to the collective voice. Men who weren’t shy about their love and involvement with their children. Women who supported the cause and played a role in helping to change the image of modern fatherhood.

I imagined you roaming the streets of D.C. with some of us, with your chin high, and that kind, gentle grin you always wore and realizing that the power of change isn’t simply found in the offices of the elected, but in the blogs, playrooms, kitchens, and carpools of the men and women in attendance.

— Read Creed’s complete thoughts on his blog, Tales From the Poop Deck

Victor Aragon, Chicago Dads Group

This was my second time going to Dad 2.0 and as much as it felt like my second home, I still felt out of place. I felt like the little brother that was trying to hang out with his bigger brothers and was accepted by all. I had a few people pull me to the side and ask me about my family and about post I wrote. It felt good to know that someone, other than myself, was reading my stuff and that it actually moved them.

Lance Somerfeld, NYC Dads Group

The fifth annual Dad 2.0 Summit was my favorite one yet. Dad 2.0 is a ripe opportunity for dads and dad bloggers to escape from hiding behind their computers and meet talented and caring dads face-to-face. A highlight for me was hosting a City Dads Group team meeting (photo at top) and being surrounded by over 40 organizers, active members and blog contributors. Community, family, friendship and beyond!

Another highlight for me was taking advantage of a little “me time” which is rare since the birth of our daughter 10 months ago. Strolling through the Capitol at night with a few good friends and admiring the world-renowned landmarks was a magnificent experience as was relaxing in a barber’s chair and receiving a professional shave in the Dove Men+Care suite.

Dave Lesser, NYC Dads Group

A lot Dad 2.016 recaps will probably mention the inaugural DadSLAM, a Moth-style public reading of blog posts. My roommate John Kinnear hosted the event to high acclaim. John read a hilarious article about his kid pooping in the McDonald’s ball pit and another guy read a different hilarious story about poop. Some stories left the room in nods and tears and not all of the essays were about accidental defecation. I don’t think. I’m actually not sure, since I didn’t go. It was an after-hours event and I went down to the room where it was being held to make sure someone showed up for John. The room, packed with attendees, was stuffy and warm, and there was no booze, so I quietly left. What can I say, sometimes I’m too big an asshole to let the transcendent moments happen.

— Read Dave’s complete thoughts on his blog, Amateur Idiot/Professional Dad

Scott Posey, Baltimore Dads Group

The Dad 2.0 conference is … a meeting of minds to discuss modern fatherhood as it is portrayed in the media and in everyday life. This conversation takes place with a lot of the big movers and shakers of the entertainment [and retail] worlds and has the power to truly initiate change. There were big brand names here like Lego, Dove Men+Care, Kia, Esquire, and Lee (among others). These are brands that see a passion for fatherhood being championed across all corners of the web and are coming out to say that they not only agree, but support our movement. Panels were held to discuss the ever changing role of fatherhood as it corresponds to the workplace (something I’m very passionate about) and how people are fighting the good fight daily to ensure that parental leave is not only a right but one that is taken without fear of career suicide. Everywhere you looked this weekend, you could see this desire to better oneself as a father but also on a larger scale for all fathers across the world.

The other reason I wanted to attend the conference was to meet all of the fellow dads who I have talked with, shared stories with, and grew with as a father [online]. … It was amazing seeing and talking to these guys whose work I have read and been affected by since having my son. …  Attending a summit to help advance fatherhood is a great reason to attend, but hanging out with your friends and forming relationships in person is a close second.

— Read Scott’s complete thoughts on his blog, Father Nerds Best

 Carter Gaddis, City Dads Group columnist

I found a large, passionate, talented group of men and women who shared my interests and — incredibly, to me — seemed to care what I thought and wrote. The Dad 2.0 mission of bringing brands together with fathers of the Internet is great, of course. It’s been a privilege to work with companies that understand the importance of shattering the tired stereotype of the aloof, goofball dad so often portrayed in ads, movies and TV shows over the years. The networking is great, but I will always go back to the Dad 2.0 Summit because of the sense of renewal it provides. It is a reunion with my “tribe,” a chance to rejuvenate, a source of energy throughout the rest of the year. I’ve been to other social media conferences, and they were great. This one? This one is home.

— Read Carter’s complete thoughts on his blog, Carter Gaddis, Writer

Nick Browne and Benjamin Muller, Philadelphia Dads Group

This weekend, we spent four days in Washington, D.C. for the Dad 2.0 Summit. And in a few words: IT WAS AMAZING. Honestly, so many great people came together to put together a truly inspiring event. For details, listen to their Poppin’ Bottles podcast.

Want more? Read what our New York City members had to say on the NYC Dads Group blog. 

A dozen fathers, half of whom are City Dads Group members, will walk 80 miles — sea to sea — across northern England in July to raise money to benefit the children of parents with cancer and in the memory of one of their own.

These fathers will hike along the historic Hadrian’s Wall, a fortification built in the first century A.D. that once marked the northernmost point of the Roman Empire, to support Camp Kesem. Kesem provides free summer camps and other events for the 3 million children nationwide affected by a parent battling cancer. The camp has 70 chapters in 34 states.

The walkers’ goal is collecting $40,000 to start a Camp Kesem chapter on the campus at the University of Maryland, which is near the home of fellow dad blogger Oren Miller. Miller, a University of Maryland grad who died from lung cancer a year ago, chronicled his life as a stay-at-home dad online, using the platform to take on fatherhood stereotypes and pushing for fathers to be included in parental marketing — one issue in particular being to convince online retailer Amazon to change its baby-care subscription club from “Amazon Mom” to “Amazon Family.”

Miller also started a popular Facebook group for dad bloggers that now has more than 1,100 members.

The so-called Dads4Kesem or “Walking Dads” are:

• Chris Routly, Portland Dads Group, of The Full Routly
• Michael Moebes, Atlanta Dads Group, of Dadcation
• Whit Honea, L.A. Dads Group and City Dads Group columnist, of Dads4Change
• Jim Higley, Chicago Dads Group, of Bobblehead Dad. He is also the chief development and marketing officer for Camp Kesem.
• Jason Greene, NYC Dads Group, of One Good Dad
• Jeff Bogle, Philly Dads Group, of Out With the Kids
• Brent Almond of Designer Daddy
• Phil Corless of Idaho Dad
• Doug French of Dad 2.0 Summit
• Josh Misner of Mindful Dad
• John Pacini of Dad 2.0 Summit
• Brian Reasoner of Southern Bella’s Big Daddy

All the participants are paying their own expenses for the July 8-16 trip to England so all donations they collect can go to Camp Kesem.

You can:

• donate to their effort at Dads4Kesem.com
• follow the Dads4Kesem participants on social media at #Dads4Kesem and #TheWalkingDads.

— Jason Greene contributed to this report.

The fifth annual Dad 2.0 Summit is shaping up to be its biggest in terms of its size and its message of the important bond between fathers as well as the one between dads and their children.

Proof of this are the 17 dads receiving free tickets to the three-day conference, taking place Feb. 18-20 in Washington, D.C., through the generosity of other fathers. This is nearly triple the number of “scholarships” dads funded last year to assist their brothers in diaper changing.

City Dads Group played a major role in that increase by donating enough to pay for five attendees through the Oren Miller Scholarship Fund, named after a dad blogger dedicated to the cause of increasing the visibility and importance of fathers in the parenting world. Miller died last year following a public battle with lung cancer.

Matt Schneider, co-founder of City Dads Group, considers the donation part of the organization’s mission. “City Dads Group is being built by dads that we found through both Oren’s Dad Blogger Facebook Group and the Dad 2.0 Summit,” he said. “We are giving back to these communities, but even more importantly, we are investing in the professional development opportunity that comes with being at Dad 2.0.”

The three-day conference is billed as “an open conversation about the commercial power of dads online.” Dove Men+Care personal care products, Esquire magazine and Lego building blocks are a few of major brands fathers will have a chance to meet with major brands and marketing representative but also find strength in each other in their role as caregivers to the future generations.

“We were overjoyed to see our scholarship fund triple in size this year, and City Dads Group’s donation was a huge part of that,” Dad 2.0 Co-Founder Doug French said. “We love to see our attendees derive value from Dad 2.0, and their commitment to pay it forward has done wonders to sustain the community that Oren helped build.”

Five members of City Dads Groups were among the Miller Grant scholarship winners:

• Lee Bodenmiller of our Cleveland Dads Group
• Nick Edwards, Detroit Dads Group
• David Kepley, Dallas Dads Group
• Joël Mejia, Los Angeles Dads Group
• Niel Vuolo, NYC Dads Group

A handful of 2016 Dad 2.0 Summit tickets are still available through the organization’s website.

Three years into a campaign by fathers and other caregivers to get online retail giant Amazon to recognize their role in raising children by broadening the “Amazon Mom” branding for its U.S. child-care discount program, the Seattle-based company has quietly changed the name to “Amazon Family.”

More than 13,800 people backed the new name in a petition started in 2012 on Change.org. Most of those supporters joined the cause this year — flooding Amazon with thousands of tweets, emails and Facebook postings — when friends of a deceased dad blogger took up the cause to honor him.

Though the Amazon’s subscription-based service for deals on diapers, baby wipes and such products had long been “open to anyone, whether you’re a mom, dad, grandparent, or caretaker,” as used to be stated on its web site, the name irked many as old-fashioned stereotyping in today’s society. The name, opponents said, failed to recognize men — single, gay or stay-at-home — as capable of raising children as well as those other relatives or adults who take on a parenting roles.

Stay-at-home father Oren Miller of Owings Mills, Md., who died in February at age 42 after a public battle with lung cancer, first wrote about his issues with the Amazon name back in 2013 on his A Blogger and A Father site. One of his main problems: Amazon used the more encompassing “Family” name for the program in most other countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and France.

“It’s not about a name and it’s not about me personally being offended …,” Miller wrote. “It’s about a company that looks at the U.S., then looks at England, and then decides that over there, parent equals mom or dad, while here, well, we’re not ready for that yet. …

“In a way, it’s meaningless. Who cares about the name Amazon uses for its parenting program. On the other hand, what does it say about us?”

Following Miller’s death, several of his friends and online dad blogging acquaintances took up the name change battle to honor his memory.

“I know some accused those of us involved in this campaign of being a bunch of whiny dads with nothing better to do. I beg to differ — visibility is important. As a parent and as a gay man, I know this firsthand on a couple of levels, ” blogger Brent Almond of Maryland, a close family friend of Miller’s, told City Dads Group in an online interview. “Sure, it’s nice to have one less thing labeled as exclusively for ‘moms,’ but more importantly it’s one more way our society can be inclusive of all kinds of families, regardless of how many parents a family has, what gender they are, and what roles the parents have.”

Beth Ilise Blauer, Miller’s widow, said she was “shocked” to learn about the change last night from a friend on Facebook. “It’s done. It’s incredible that no generation of people going forward are going to be subjected to the discrimination inherent in that name,” she said in a phone interview with City Dads Group.

Miller would be “elated” with the change — noting that he was more baffled by Amazon’s name choice than angry about it — and with the love shown to him by his friends in helping making it happen, Blauer said.

“I don’t think he ever expected that this would happen but I don’t think it would surprise him that the change came about as it did – quietly,” she said

Despite the online campaign and numerous reports by major media outlets such as CNN.com, Fox Business and Parenting.com throughout 2015, Amazon never publicly commented on the name – not even with a “no comment.” Blauer said shortly after her husband’s death she even made a personal plea to a friend who is an executive with Amazon. She has never talked or heard from the person since, she said.

This time has been no different. The Amazon.com press releases page doesn’t mention the name change and the program merely says “Amazon Mom is now Amazon Family.” As of publication, Amazon’s media relations department did not return either a phone message or e-mail seeking comment for this article.

While it is unclear how much of a role Miller and the campaign on his behalf ultimately had, it did have a real effect on someone close to him: his 7-year-old son, Liam.

When Blauer told the boy what had happened and how his father’s friends worked to try to make the name change on his behalf, she said he responded: “Aba (the Hebrew word for father) really was famous, wasn’t he?”

UPDATE: 3:01 P.M. Geekwire reports it asked an Amazon spokesperson if the dads’ campaign helped foster the change, the person only responded that “We are transitioning Amazon Mom to Amazon Family because the name better reflects the program.”

Six NYC Dads Group members present tales of fathering in Dads Behaving Dadly 2: 72 More Truths, Tears and Triumphs of Modern Fatherhood, a sequel to last year’s Dads Behaving Dadly compilation from Motivational Press.

Sharing their stories of raising children while facing the pressures of modern fatherhood are:

• Michael Andrews Jr.
• Larry Bernstein
• Jason S. Grant
• Jason Greene
• Lorne Jaffe
• Christopher Persley

Ten percent of the book’s royalties are said to be donated to the Oren Miller Dad 2.0 Scholarship Fund, named in honor of A Blogger and a Father author the late Oren Miller. The fund helps fathers afford to attend the annual Dad 2.0 Summit for bloggers and marketers.

The book is available for purchase through Amazon.

A special father lost his life over the weekend, and that loss brings great sorrow to not only to the wife and two young children who loved and cherished him as only family can but also to hundreds of other fathers who made up his extended family, virtual and IRL, in the dad blogging world.

Oren Miller of Owings Mills, Md., author of the blog A Blogger and a Father and the founder of the “Dad Bloggers” Facebook community of more than 1,000 fathers strong, died Feb. 28 after a nine-month battle with lung cancer. He was 42. He is survived by his wife, Beth Blauer, and his children, Liam and Madeline.

Oren touched the lives of more people than he could have ever imaged: first by creating the international Facebook community that gave fathers a place to share, vent, laugh and support each other, and then by writing about his coming to terms with cancer with unimaginable grace, dignity and eloquence. All of us throughout City Dads Group are saddened by his passing.

To help you understand the impact Oren had, City Dads Group is providing these links and excerpts to some of the many tributes our members have written about him:

“My Friend Oren,” Creed Anthony, Indy Dads Group

“It’s Not About Me,” Chris Bernholdt, Philly Dads Group

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I … was one of the first 30 guys in his group of dad bloggers that is now over 1,000 members strong, an idea Oren called ‘so crazy that it just might work.” Well, it did. The group’s unity, cooperation, and strength in numbers have positively impacted the societal image of the father via the media that has been produced and supported by the group’s members. The image of the “bumbling dad” who doesn’t know how to change diapers or raise his kids is very quickly becoming a thing of the past. The new image is the strong, caring dad who might work in or out of the home, or be a stay-at-home parent, but either way is essential in the raising of his kids. To be fair, this shift probably started before Oren’s group, but the group had a definite role in moving it forward. …

For City Dads Group, most guys on the organizing teams of each city including us here (in Dallas) are members of Oren’s group. Quite simply, I’m not sure what the makeup of this group would be without Oren’s impact. …

The bottom line is that the lives of guys worldwide, and by extension, their kids, families, and communities, have all been vastly improved in ways that will last forever, because of Oren.

– Jeff Tepper, Dallas Dads Group via Facebook

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“A Moment with Oren,” Whit Honea, L.A. Dads Group

“Leonard Nimoy, Oren Miller and the ties that bind,” Trey Burley, Atlanta Dads Group

“How One Dad Will Live Forever – #Dads4Oren,” R.C. Liley, Dallas Dads Group

“Oren Miller,” Niel Vuolo, NYC Dads Group

“Rest in Peace, Oren Miller,” Adam Gertsacov, Chicago Dads Group

Oren Miller, the man behind A Blogger and a Father and a good friend of City Dads Group, recently received a diagnosis of Stage 4 lung cancer. The cancer has spread to his liver and brain. The prognosis is not good.

Oren, who founded the popular Dad Bloggers Facebook group, wrote about the devastating news with unbelievable grace and – to properly use a word often tossed around when bloggers make online admissions – bravery in a post simply titled Cancer.

Several of Oren’s friends got together to try raise $5,000 to pay for him and his family to take a vacation together. The funds came in so fast and furious that the goal was raised to $10,000. Then $20,000. Now, it is at $30,000 and it has nearly been reached again as of this writing. Oren and his family say they will use the funds for that vacation, medical expenses and other family needs.

We encourage all of you who can to donate to the fundraiser for Oren and his family. If you need more convincing, here is a list of some of the many articles written about Oren by his blogging friends:

At Home Dad Matters – Oren’s Corner: A Bittersweet Dedication

Ay yo, Be a Father – Helping Others

Big Cheese Dad – A Chance to Pay it Forward

Dad and Buried – Help a Father Out

Daddy Doctrines – Helping Oren: Break the Bystander Effect

Dadmissions – Dads I admire

DadNCharge – The Power of People: Lifting up the Millers

Dadscribe – Once More…For Oren

Fit to be a Dad – When One of Our Own Needed Us, #Dads4Oren Came Running

Frank’s Place – Give a little – it means a lot

Ihopeiwinatoaster – A Post for Oren Miller

The Jack B – Father’s Day, Lurkers, and Other Thins that Matter

Joshua Wilner – Help Inigo Montoya Defeat His Greatest Nemesis

Life in the Fishbowl – My Father’s Day Wish

Nerd Icognito – A Sad Day for a Great Man

One Good Dad – Oren Miller: Champion of Fatherhood and Cancer Fighter

The Purposeful Pappy – Leaving a Legacy

Puzzling Posts – A bedtime story for adults: it’s easy to ask for help

Raising Sienna – A Groundbreakering Dad Blogger Needs Our Help

Scotchfully Yours – We Are All The MIllers

Stay At Home Punk – Sometimes, Even Superheroes Need Help

The Daddy Files – Of Time, Cancer, and Snapping Turtles

To My Son Tommy – Dads Don’t Need Help, Right?

Today.com Parents: Dad bloggers rally around father with terminal cancer

Note: This has been cross-posted at NYC Dads Group.