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Normally I try and come up with something clever as a title for these posts. I didn’t even try for this one. It’s a Father’s Day post and just those words seemed about right. I’m the 58 year old son of an 87 year old father and a 58 year old father of a 27 year old son, as well as a 30 year old daughter. The hard part these days is convincing myself that I actually have more in common with the kids than my old man. I can do that for stretches, until I stretch something unintentionally and my body immediately reminds me that my mind is kidding myself.
I’m very fortunate to have my Dad still with me, both my parents for that matter. But seeing as how this is Father’s Day we’ll deal with him, and he can be quite a bit to deal with. My Dad somehow found his way from a tiny town in Texas to running what turned out to be the most successful magazine launch in history, People Magazine. In between included stops reporting for Life Magazine that covered such events as the Kennedy assassination, the murder of the civil rights workers in Mississippi, the Vietnam War and even the first Super Bowl.
As part of our coverage of Super Bowl 56 for Caesars this year we brought Dad in to talk about the differences between Super Bowl 1 and Super Bowl 56 as both were based in Los Angeles(hint: they were many). It was so much fun to see him recall how much the event had grown. Making this year’s Super Bowl even more fun was that my son worked it as well. It’s was his 2nd Super Bowl to work meaning we’ve had 3 generations cover the grand American experience in sports. You better believe we got together a few times to celebrate that fact.
We also had another reason to celebrate: my daughter also lives in the L.A. area so the week was really just as much about us all getting together as it was the game. By the way if anyone in the NFL sees this I’ll deny it. Need to make sure we keep getting those credentials.
But back to the point… if I actually have one. Father’s Day gives me a chance to say thanks to my Dad for showing me you can have a different kind of job that appeals to what you love and you can make it work. The path less taken sometimes yields the greatest rewards. I learned that from him and he allowed me to chase my dreams.
I’m hopeful that I’ve passed that on to my kids. I want them to find something that makes them happy and try to make that their job. The old saying is if you love what you do it’ll never feel like work. While that’s not ALWAYS true it does help. I want them to chase their dreams, knowing full well they may crash and burn. But that’s ok. Everyone fails. The point is to TRY. Take your lumps, keep getting up and keep moving forward. Perhaps the truest saying about fatherhood, as well as parenthood, is that you’re always just going to be as happy as your least happy child. It’s a never ending job with a lot of anxious moments. But I don’t care. It’s still the best job I've ever had and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
The highs far outweigh the lows. Even though we’re a county apart for most of the year we find the time to get together and we celebrate every time that we do. So on Father’s Day? Thanks Pops for showing me the way and thanks kids for making me want to show you the way. You’re the best gifts a Dad could've ever received, but I’ll still take a sleeve of balls if you’re asking.
