My father died today. Ironic as it seems, I was out riding
my motorcycle today when I got the call. My father always hated the idea of me
riding motorcycles. Now I sit and remember him and the times I put my parents
on the edge as I ventured out into life and many of the dangers life presents
as well as the worry I am sure I caused them as I think about my children and
grandchildren and the perils that life places in front of them. What I would do
to keep them safe. And knowing all along that keeping them safe is only
provided by the love we have for them and the hope we have for them to have a
life full of nothing but love and adventure.
Bob Sr was a very good man. In the workshops that I have the
joy to teach in many parts of the world, I often speak of my father as one of
the people that has had a significant impact on my life. Few people can place
an indelible mark on our lives and impact the way we show up as much as a
parent can. My father was one of those people that I will forever fondly
remember as a parent that did the best he could with the knowledge he had. He
wasn’t the best parent in the world. He became a parent with little training
and no one provided him with the Idiots Guide To Effective Parenting and he did
not always get it right. But one thing that has stuck with me for all these
years is that I can now always see that whenever he did what he could to teach
me, whether right or wrong, it was always clear to see that he always did what
he could with love and care. He was a master at helping me understand that we
will always be perfect works in progress.
I know that from this moment forward that whenever I speak
of my father as someone that taught me to be kind to everyone and contributed
to me being the kind of human being that I have turned out to be that it will
have deeper and more meaningful impact on me as well as the people I come into
contact with in this world. If I can be, even in a small percentage, as caring
and loving as he was to everyone he came in contact with then I will be honored
to be Bob Jr and carry on the legacy of my father.
