Giving Tuesday
November 29 will be celebrated globally as Giving Tuesday. On that day, after Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, people all over the world will join together to help others by donating to good causes.
Carving a Conversation
Every fall my children and I engaged in an annual tradition. Just before Halloween, we carved our jack o’ lantern together. For twenty years it had always been the same. But, it was also much more.
Playing JV
August may be my favorite month. For many young athletes, it is a time of new beginnings. Football and other fall sports renew practice in a big way.
Finding our Nemos
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”.
The most important lesson?
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.
A Mother’s Day Reflection
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.
My Dreams are Yours
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.
Showing our kids how to serve
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.
Life is a Marathon … or at least a “Half”
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.
Make a Memory
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.