10/8/2015, Your 19th Birthday
Dear
Jordan,
It’s
been a great run. Being your father and
husband to your Mother are two of my greatest joys. As I
have told you, the best is yet come.
Always believe that. A young man has many roles to play as he
grows; to be a good brother, a good son, a good friend, a good husband, a good
father. The qualities to fulfill those
roles are rather simple and you have all those qualities. You were given a good foundation; you have
the strength, the courage, the organization, the self awareness, loyalty and sense
of happiness. You are fortunate to have
been born with all of these abilities and expand them. I am not writing this letter to give you a
blueprint for your life. You have your
own blueprint. Any direction you decide
to take I know you will do it with excellence, with discipline and do it your
way. Someday I hope you look back on my
letters and notes to you and realize that the lessons I have tried to teach have
come from the wisdom and experiences of my parents and their parents before
them and that they can live forever in you, and yours.
Today,
you have a few weeks of college under your belt and I have a hunch you have
already figured out some of the tricks to being a good student. It’s not that hard to filter out the bullshit
and the biases and cut to the chase. If
there is anything in life you want to know it is at your fingertips. Your background in sports has enabled you
to figure out your strengths and weaknesses fairly early in life. Playing safety on the gridiron you were
exposed and vulnerable. You learned
early to be prepared, to anticipate, to hustle, to finish, to never give up.
College
can be a busy time if you allow it to.
The vast majority of college students are stumbling around unconscious
and visiting in their mind, all day long, their regrets and anxieties of the
future. Here is a check list to help you
with college. So tuck away the ego, listen
up and remember these. Are you eating
well? Are you getting enough good sleep? Are you avoiding the people who stress
you? Are you laughing? Are you grateful for what you have? Have you looked to the angels above and asked
God, “Who today do you want me to help?”
The rest will take care of itself.
In closing, you have heard me say on more than one
occasion that the biggest decision a man will make beside his faith in God is
who he will marry. When you find a girl to settle down with, take a hard look
and consider if being with her will improve you or not. Always opt for the improvement. Remember, you never know if it is right, you
will always know if it’s not right. There are going to be a lot of women trying
to snag you, as you’re an outstanding catch.
Don’t allow a woman to choose you, choose her and make it a mutual
thing. Use Mom and me as an example and
live by that. And never forget the hero
your Mom is, because she has had to overcome a million obstacles that would
have killed an ordinary person in order to achieve her goals of being a
successful wife, mother and corporate executive. Mom and I always regarded marriage as ‘till death
do us part. We have had our ups and downs
for sure but the love and confidence in each other was strengthened by the
downs as well as the ups.
Jordan,
you have so many great years ahead of you.
Make the most of them. Make good
use of your time every day. Time you can
never get back. When you get much older,
and believe me when I tell you this, never let an “old man” live in your body. I try to live that mantra. Live as you did in your youth, live large, think
big, have great dreams, keep your eyes open, live life, dance like no is
watching and hunt like it’s your first animal!
And
above all, praise God and continue to use your tremendous vision and discipline
in going after what you want out of life.
Happy
Birthday Jordan!
Love,
Dad
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