Happy Father’s Day
“I would say my greatest achievement in life right now – my greatest achievement period is – and I’m still trying to achieve it – is to be a wonderful father to my kids”.
-Bo Jackson
Here is a Throwback Thursday from the Summer of 1990.
These two pictures were taken as I was being dropped off for the John Cooper Ohio State Football Camp in Columbus, OH.
This football camp lasted one week and it was a great experience.
Looking back what made it great was the opportunity to workout in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and receive instruction from all of the Buckeye Assistant Coaches.
We the campers had a lot of time with Head Coach John Cooper.
John Cooper to me seemed like a very good person that was thoughtful and caring.
Alonzo Spellman gave us a motivational speech right directly outside of Ohio Stadium where the open area once was.
“The Horseshoe” was different then with a capacity of about 86,000.
Spellman’s speech was good. He talked about how he always gave his best so that he wouldn’t disappoint his Father and Mother.
I split the week with Defensive Backs and the other half with Running Backs.
Ron Zook who later became the Head Coach of the University of Florida was the DB Coach at the time.
The intensity of The Assistant Coaches and how neat the Woody Hayes Athletic Center was were highlights to me.
In 1990 the dorm rooms and the dining halls at OSU seem medieval compared to how POSH they are now.
This was a camp where I did not go with anyone from my school. I went by myself. My roommates that week in the dorm I stayed were randomly selected for me. One guy who wore Kurt Rambis style athletic glasses said he was from Kenton, OH.
It has always been a natural thing for me to make new friends and handle new situations / experiences in positive ways.
The older I get the more I think being shy is something you are born with. I wasn’t born shy.
Over the years, I will say that I have become more introverted, but I have always had a proclivity for being an extrovert.
I measure out pretty much both as equally as an extrovert and as an introvert. 50/50 for the most part.
My father pictured here with me was a total extrovert. He would get a lot of energy being around people. Being a natural extrovert is something you could say that I get naturally.
Now that I am a Dad I like to look at a lot of the positive things I received from my Father from a Nature / Nurture standpoint.
There are two roles I like to think a Dad plays for his children and they are of 1.) Facilitator and 2.) Memory Maker.
We have an older Priest who visits our church on occasion. One of the things he mentioned in a homily has stuck in my head is that “families are in the business of making memories together”. I love that!
A Dad is a facilitator when he sets you up with great experiences such as trips and does things for you such as career counseling.
He acts as a facilitator when he drives you to friend’s houses, the movie theater and acts as an over-qualified chauffeur to go and get your braces tightened.
A Dad is a memory maker when you do things with him whether it is to attend a concert or travel to a distant land. He is a memory maker when he tells you spellbinding stories to engage your imagination and jokes that make you cry with tears.
A Dad does many things, but I think the two roles of Facilitator and Memory Maker really stand out to me to be two of the most important.
Really one of the best things a Father can do for his children is to give them situations where they have great experiences and great memories for a lifetime.
Those are things I am grateful that my Dad did for me and those are things I strive to do for my daughters.
