In my 43 years of life (44 on June 20), I have been fortunate to serve in many roles.  I joined the Navy at age 18 in order to become an Officer and a Gentleman.  There I learned how to follow orders and then how to lead others in the military way of life.  I have started at the bottom rung in several areas of pursuit; clothing, financial services and energy just to name a few.  I also reached the lofty level of supervision in all of those endeavors because that’s the way I am wired.

No role has ever come close to that of being a father.  I remember the very first Father’s Day that my oldest child, Jessica, gave me which summoned tears to my eyes.  Please allow me to share that card here;

When does a girl need her dad?

She needs him when she’s little…to read the bedtime story (and do the voices)…to put her jammies on backward by accident (or maybe just to make her laugh)…

She needs her dad when she’s growing…to teach her to wait for a good pitch (and to be her biggest fan, hit or miss)…

A girl needs her dad when she’s finally ready to set out on her own…to change the oil and check the tires…to hug her and tell her he knows she’ll go far…

A girl needs her dad when she’s not really a girl anymore…to smile at her as they wait to walk down the aisle…to look up to, no matter how grown-up she gets…to read her kids a story (and do the voices)…

When does a girl need her dad?  Always

Thanks, Dad, for all you’ve done and still do for me.  Thanks for being the best dad a girl could ask for.

Happy Father’s Day with lots of love.

Love, Jessica

No card has ever had the effect on me that card manifests.  She knew that card would touch my heart so she stood right beside me as I read it aloud.  Holding back tears, I hugged her and thanked her for the best card I have ever received.  To this day that remains the case.  She’s my little girl, even as she approaches twenty, and I love her dearly.  She works hard, she gets excellent grades and she will graduate a year ahead of schedule from a very prestigious university in south Florida.

Because my daughter is on pace to graduate early, I missed seeing her this year as she takes classes down near South Beach but we had a great phone call.  In the background she could hear her two little brothers fighting to get me off the phone to play with them.

My namesake, Tre is really developing into a superior athlete.  I was able to take him in every game of one-on-one this past week but I can see the day when he will beat me as a rule and not an exception.  He is approaching 5 feet in height, is left-handed and takes full advantage of his physical attributes on the field of play.

His little brother Joshua has emerged as my little buddy.  He doesn’t like to share his daddy with anyone and I just love him for that.  He and I beat his brother and a few teammates in touch football yesterday.  Josh was awesome as a blocker and a decoy on offense and special teams.  He even got us a couple of sacks when we played defense.  I have never had so much fun with my boys than I did yesterday  Being a DAD is awesome and I highly recommend it to any man who wants to have the best, fulfilling life possible.  That’s just my opinion but I know many fathers feel the same way.

Best.  Role.  Ever!