Trying this again

I spent about 6 hours of my work day (don't tell my wife) reading something that's very special to me. My dad kept a journal of my senior year of high school. Volume 1 covers the events that took place from July 11, 1998 to February 14, 1999. The majority of this issue is filled with my senior year of football, a series of memories that will forever be seared in my mind. Dad kept up with everything and made a point to not only describe in detail what happened, but also shares his feelings, concerns, emotions, and fears of raising an 18-year-old.

As I read his entries, I realized that he took time out of his day to share with me. He made his entries not for me as an 18-year-old but for me, today...now a 29-year-old father of 2.9 kids and for me in another 11 years, at 40 with a 6th grader, an 9th grader, and a 10th grader. The events in Dad's life while I was finishing my last year of school were pretty huge. He tried to get a budding business off the ground, contemplated changing churches, feared for the safety and welfare of my brother, and had a bicycle wreck in which he broke his jaw, cheekbone, and a bone in his hand. Through all that, he still made time to stick to his commitment of recording a memory of each day.

I read as dad tries to steer me in the right direction on several things. He encourages me to spend less time with my girlfriend and more time with my boys. He encourages me to learn the importance of credit when he bails me out after a series of hot checks. He encourages me by admitting faults which is often a difficult thing for dads (and men in general) to do.

There's a lot I can learn from my dad in this journal.

Lesson 1: Keep a journal and don't give up on it. Here goes nothing.