Why is it hard to articulate just how much I’ve “learned from dad?”
It seems too daunting of a task because it will no doubt “need work”. See? Everything I do I learned from Dad. And in that case, this shouldn’t be hard at all. Every day contains a piece of his spirit, his wisdom, his take on life. Talk to strangers in line at the grocery store! Work hard! Dance in the aisles! Keep learning! Make things happen! It’s hard and yet not so to come up with a piece of prose or a paragraph on what “Daaad, being Daaad” really means and how he’s shaped my life.
I don’t know what my life would be any other way than to have a father strong enough to put up with a bratty 12 year old and put on a “poets vest” after publishing his own poetry book by his 50th birthday. He’s a “renaissance man” I say to people. Boisterous, sometimes eccentric, a great cook, a truly impressive writer, a hard worker, creative thinker…and you ask what I’ve learned from Dad? Well, it seems all that. Maybe not the great cook part yet, but perhaps I’ll get there...
The point is, I am what I am because he is who he is. From the small things like learning the rules of baseball in the old Volvo on the way to the Giants game or the big things like the way to approach life and truly treat people. From wearing your bicycle helmet or you’ll have to “Tell it to the surgeon!” to balancing a corporate life with an artistic and creative life, too. Dad’s a “searcher” some might say, looking for the next group to join, the next book to read, the next thing to learn or problem to solve at work or at home.
I’ve concluded he searches because there is so much wonder out there and so much to do. And for that I admire his energy and drive to take it all in and strive to be a better person. That’s something I’ve learned and something I aim for in my own life. Search for more. Be more. Push yourself to become even better. Take in the spirit of the world and give back to it. I’d like to think I take on new challenges and new places the way Dad might. Become a part of my community; get involved in things that matter, meet new people wherever I go. Because that’s what Dad has taught me: there’s a lot out there and you are in control of making the most of it. So if you don’t have a goal, your goal becomes finding that goal. If you are excited about theatre, hell, go work for Broadway!
Dad’s energy, enthusiasm for life and learning and to be the best you can be by taking in all life’s possibilities are things I hope I can accomplish in my own life and one day when I ask my children to tell me about how I’ve shaped them and what I’ve taught them, I can only hope that those messages reemerge and continue to be passed down…