Now I can be part of the conversation, too. I know Nemo. I know about his lucky fin. I know Marlin, Dory, Gill and Crush [Dude!] I know about the adventure. I know about the relationship between the father and the son. I understand how they all fit into our world. Now I can take the next step and go Find Dory without feeling lost. I have “caught up”.
I sat only a few hundred yards from the dorm room where I had left my daughter as a freshman. Just four years ago, she had taken the biggest step of her life to that point.
When the time to go came, she gave me a kiss, squeezed my hand and told me “I will be here when you come out”. These were the truest words I have ever heard.
One evening, instead of retiring after the news, as he usually did, my dad hung around and watched the entire movie with me. The selection that night was entitled Spencer’s Mountain* starring Henry Fonda.
As I stood there wearing my Be There Dad shirt, I saw some of our dream coming true. Parents and children were working together. This is how we teach our kids.
On Saturday morning, I stood among some 5000 others in what they call the runners corral waiting to run a local half marathon. Trying to stay warm in near freezing temperatures, my mind wandered to the last time I had stood in a similar crowd waiting to run my first “half” over thirty years ago.
Recently we held a Be There Dad workshop at a local elementary school. The audience was a group of dads whose kids all attended this school where there is an active Be There Dad group. Most of these dads had already been involved with service to the school at car rider line and other events.
After watching the recent interview on Charlotte Today, a long time Be There Dad supporter sent me the following email. I was immediately touched. His message is simple, but it captures the essence of Be There Dad.
Watch our own Coach Jeff as he describes Be There Dad to the hosts of NBC’s Charlotte Today.
In a reflective moment, I remembered that this is how baseball is supposed to be. I could hear the words of James Earl Jones’ description of the Field of Dreams as if he was speaking to me about Wrigley, “America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers… But baseball has marked the time.