My Dad

I love him.
I could summarize this post with those three words.  But today I thought about one of the many reasons why I love him.

All of my life my dad has been a very busy man.  Busy as in - high profile speaker, author and entrepreneur, tireless workaholic, in high demand, juggling too many people, too many projects and too many irons in the fire throughout my life.  My dad's version of "busy" equates to superhuman abilities and demands on his time that extend far beyond fourth dimension capabilities.

One of the significant memories etched in my mind from growing up with my father is a song he played at many keynote speeches he gave over the years...

My dad playing this song in speeches and repeatedly choking up when doing so confirms what I know - that my dad loved me and my brothers despite his frequent absence in pursuit of his dreams and providing for us.

I never felt like my dad didn't love me.  But I do look back and wish I had more time with him.  I miss not having my dad around a lot when I was young.  This is nothing new though.  Fathers (especially ambitious and successful ones) are forever investing most of their time and energy into providing for their families.  And when your father is a visionary entrepreneur, the amount of time invested and the passion with which it is invested is substantial.

I have been thinking a lot about my dad this week, especially since meeting a man who reminds me a lot of my father...only this man is my age with young children at home.  It's like seeing my dad as an adult peer, not as a young daughter.

Last week I met Chris Brogan.  Prior to last week, I didn't know who he was.  Since meeting him, I've looked into him and couldn't help but recognize the parallels between him and my father.  Today I watched Chris at IzeaFest answering a question from an audience member who asked Chris how he could handle being present with all of these people everywhere he goes and still spend time with his family.  Chris' answer revealed such a familiar scenario for me.  First he said, "Daddy sends home checks." (He then said he was joking, but I have no doubt there's truth to that statement.  This is what Daddy does to provide for the family.  This is reality.)  He went on to say, "The difference between how I live my life now is before, when I had all these dreams, I was home, but I wasn't present - I was in my household pushing my kids off saying. 'I gotta do something, I gotta do something, I gotta do something.' And now when I'm home, I am fiercely home.  I shut off everything.  I don't tweet.  Or if I do tweet, it's about something they did to me.  And I love the hell out of them."

I connected the dots.  Chris is just like my dad.  Chris spends all this time away from home, pursuing dreams he's passionate about and providing for his family.  Chris pours himself out connecting with people in person at all of these venues he visits while simultaneously maintaining a strong social media presence - engaging with hundreds, even thousands, of people every single day.  And he also runs a company, promotes a book, gives speeches, works on upcoming projects and, (I'm quite confident), constantly thinks of new ideas and projects for the future.  (Of course this is a hunch, making the comparison between him and my father.)

In the same week I learned about Chris Brogan and got a feel for what his life is like, I also noticed that my dad took a call from me right as he was walking in to meet Charles Schwab for lunch.  It struck me like a lightning bolt and has remained with me since.  Despite my dad's success, status and high profile position in his field, my dad ALWAYS takes my calls.  I can count on a live answer when I call my dad more than I can count on a live answer when I call my husband, any of my friends or any other relative.  The only time my dad doesn't answer my call live is if his phone has no reception or he's in a meeting.

Though he shows me love in many other ways, it is this way that my dad shows me love that stood out to me this week.  And I wanted to share this publicly.  My dad makes me feel loved and important because he always takes my calls.  I feel more important than Charles Schwab in my dad's world.

The moral of my story?  If you're a father, pursuing your dreams and providing for your family, take this message from my life experience:  Pursue your dreams, provide for your family and send checks home.  But also be home as much as you can, invest your time and attention in your children when you are home,  AND take every call that comes in from your children - no matter how successful, famous or important you are.  In the end, your children will never forget how important they are to you.

Thank you, Dad.
You love me, and you show it.
I feel it, and I know it.