I’m reasonably sure that I have mentioned that I have a wife and two daughters. What can never be repeated too often, though, is how they define my very life. Fortunately for me, Mary, Rachel, nor Rebecca seems not to think less of me because I am not famous. It would be perfectly understandable if one or all of them wondered how things might have been different if I were because even I do. Even if it has been inaccurately attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Truth of these words defining the nature of success still shines through:
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
For as much as I cherished each moment of their growing up, I am discovering that the best is still to come as I watch Rachel and Rebecca mature in every way into beautiful young women. They have adopted what is best in their mother and then feel free to transform that into their own unique identities. No, I am not famous. I am not a celebrity. But by whatever infinitesimal role I played in bringing these two beautiful lives into being I am successful beyond any measure.
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