Some perspective on “Dad”
Still in my rookie years of fathering myself I wanted to share some perspective on "Dad" in honor of today.
Growing up, and to this day my dad has always been my hero. He worked hard, owned his own business, lost his business, worked graveyard shifts to support us when we lost our home and worked double duty to rebuild a new business and home for our family. He even stepped in last minute to run the Malibu Half Marathon I had signed up for last year to run with my wife when I had strained my achilles in training. The guy is a beast.
He coached all my teams growing up, threw thousands of pitches with me, and has delivered millions of high fives my way over the years. I have been blessed with countless memories of his lessons teaching me how to drive the boat, pulling him skiing, staying up past bedtime to sneak out to LA Kings games and mornings waking up before sunrise to catch fresh tracks on a bluebird day in Mammoth. We love road trips and still sneak away to Mammoth for some freshies whenever we can. He set the boundaries when I was a rowdy youngster and calls me out when I am out of line still teaching me to this day. I have always envied my "Dad" and dreamt about being able to have my own child to pass forth the lessons one day.
4 years ago my wife Lauren and I were blessed with our son, Weston. While physically he got blessed with her good looks, he has his dad’s passion, drive and competitiveness. While I always thought that I would be doing the teaching, I have found that quite the opposite has become our truth.
I find myself learning through the innocence in his perspective every day. When things don't seem right he questions them, "even if it may not be socially acceptable", and there is a purity in those questions that inspire me to question more. He is so determined and so passionate about his endeavors he literally broke his arm on his scooter a few weeks ago and I couldn't keep him off it for more than 24 hours, arm in the sling and all. He follows his heart and doesn't allow for excuses or circumstances to slow him down or get in his way.
When Corey and I started melin he used to say, "I just want to be successful enough to be able to coach my future sons baseball and football teams." As Corey became a dad about two years ago, I have had the privilege of being a fly on the wall at times enjoying watching the twinkle in his eye that he has when he speaks about, or is hanging out with his son Connor. It's been incredible to watch him grow and evolve as he stepped in to his new title of "Dad".
Bottom line is that I can't think of a greater blessing or honor than to be given the opportunity to live life all over again, this time knowing what we know and being able to impart that wisdom on our next generations. It's in this evolution that we attempt to teach the lessons we had to learn the hard way. It's also in this chapter that we learn selflessness and we become more self aware so we don't set poor examples. In my case, it has really helped center me to come home to that undying love from my mini me after a tough day's work, and all he cares about is some play time with Dad. I think we all need to be reminded to take some play time every now and then.
In order to prepare for fatherhood I stumbled across a great podcast I'd like to share called the "Dad Edge Podcast", formerly the "Good Dad Project", hosted by a Dad I am so grateful for and have never even met, Larry Hagner. I encourage you to give em a listen here:
I love watching the different Dads on our cul-de-sac interact with their kids and I learn from them every day. In fact, I learn from "Dads" that are complete strangers when I see how they handle their parenting challenges in public or on social media.
In closing, I raise my hand in a fist bump to all the Dads, Dads to be and Grand Dads out there this Fathers Day and just want to thank you for everything. Please keep teaching how to tie that fishing line, how to set up that old tent, how to drive safely, and how to treat women. Keep taking those adventures, including those little people in all of your mechanic and household projects and please keep spoiling their mothers whether in your lives or not.
Love you Dad. Thanks for Everything.
