This week's thank you: who I want to be when I grow up

I'm not very good at keeping in touch with friends. After writing Christmas cards one year and realizing how little I had seen people -- and how long my updates were because of it -- I started putting reminders on my calendar for monthly check-ins with close friends. That's sad, I know, but it's what's keeping me from feeling like a total schmuck.

Holidays and birthdays always give me an opportunity to think about individuals whom I sometimes take for granted. Instead of simple Happy Birthday greetings, birthday cards give me the chance to let them know how much I appreciate them and the things they do.

In the way that most parents know their (grown) kids appreciate what they have done for them, my dad knows. I make a point to say thank you when he invites us over for dinner, or takes us out for breakfast, or lets my son hang out with him while I'm out of town. I get him (what I hope are) thoughtful presents for Christmas and his birthday. But often it's hard to say out loud what someone like that means to me. Thank goodness for Father's Day.

In a Father's Day card, I can write that I've looked up to him personally as long as I've looked up to him literally. I can write that he showed me how to lead with kindness, humor and empathy before I ever had people paying attention to what I do. I can thank him for encouraging me to try, even if he knew it wasn't the smartest thing. And I can thank him for not judging me when I failed, and letting me talk through what I needed to do differently next time. I can write that he is the person I want to be when I grow up.

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A Note of Thanks

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