Father's Day

Father's Day came and went yesterday. I was so happy to get a call from Africa! Imagine, Matt called me from some village in Benin to talk for a while and wish me a happy father's day. Then, I get a call from Guadalajara, from Kelly. It was so great to have them call me.

I later heard that Tim Russert had died. He had authored a book called Big Russ, is a very good tribute to his dad. It is also a tribute to his father's generation. If I were to write a biography of my dad, it would be a very similar book. The story was the same for the whole generation, living through times that are hard to imagine today, personifying selflessness, humility and sacrifice. I saw the same qualities in my parents. So many little lessons in how to live, how to be responsible, what is really important, and how to laugh and survive in a world so much tougher than we now enjoy, thanks to their work. What admirable people who truly personified the values of America. The things they endured, witnessed and accomplished will not soon be matched. And we, the baby boomers are suffer by comparison.

I never really "got it" when I didn't agree with Dad, and certainly the old adage that "the older I get, the wiser my father gets" is true in our case. My regret is that I saw my father too often as an opponent, and failed to know him well enough to know his story. I realize now I was trying to prove myself to him, as children do, but I was not proving it in the ways that mattered. Professional success was merely a secondary result of the lessons my parents taught. The important things were about right and wrong, humility, how do live. And, as he always did, for my own good, he saw to it that I learned from him. I use those lessons now every single day, and they shape the positive aspects of my life. Thanks Dad.