Thanks to Dad

I didn't have an easy time with my parents as a teenager, which was exacerbated by moving a dozen or so times before I graduated high school. My father was an ambitious head football coach, so we moved around a lot as he sought (and found) success over much of East and Southeast Texas, where football is king of sports. I went to three high schools, which was adventurous, but not very conducive to long-term friendships. My mother is bitter about moving, but I think I understand what drove him now. I wrote this to him in a birthday card and wanted to save it for posterity here in the blog:

"As I grow older, I appreciate more and more how public your job was and how much of a man it takes to be the focus of an entire community's affection and, too often, their ire. I also know now that the drive to compete and win that a coach instills in a young man is a way of living without which the human spirit would be incomplete. You exemplify that spirit that is lacking in so many today, and I thank you for showing me the way."