It was the very first day back from Christmas vacation, and Rylee came home and asked me if I could speak at her school. She said that there were multiple dates available and that many parents were coming in. I said “Sure” – but, with no time/date commitment, I kinda forgot.
She reminded me a few times – but was not pushy at all. It seems like there have been so many of these ‘hottest fires’; so many of what Covey would call “first quadrant” items both at work and at home which demanded immediate attention these past few months, that there hasn’t been much room for planning events and non-critical items….
It quickly became the last week of school… the last days of Middle School. After tonight, I will have a high school aged child… A child who texted me from school once again (this time with some urgency), “Dad, its the last week of school, can you please email my teacher about coming in to speak?”
I had forgotten!!
It’s week two of my Sabbatical, and being only mildly acclimated to having some time in my life that didn’t already have someone else’s name on it, I responded, “Absolutely, honey….. When?” “Tomorrow,” she replied with a smiley emoji.
Now, I have spoken publicly many many times with less prep time than this – but not to an audience of this significance; an audience that can have infinite influence over my home life for years to come…
That evening, she briefed me on what I was to discuss. “Tell them about all of the celebrities you’ve worked with! All of the foreign countries you’ve filmed in! All the stuff that’s been on TV! The helicopter crash! Oooh, and tell them about your band!!” So – I was charged with talking about my work/life – AND entertaining.
I spoke at 9am – and then again at 1:30pm to loads of kids. I created a dynamic presentation in Keynote (its’ like PowerPoint) with videos, and PPP’s, and Ben Duffy’s… We all laughed, we shared, I asked questions, they asked some silly questions, I described the series of events that contributed to my career and where I am today…
And when I got to the part that changed everything in my life, I cried. In front of a bunch of 8th graders, I was doing my best to control emotions that I didn’t see coming. I did not openly weep (until later in the parking lot). But, as I described the first day of having started a new business as ALSO being September 11, of 2001, I could barely keep it together. The fabric of our world changed on the very day I was to make a profound change in the direction of my life – and in the lives of my soon to be family. I talked about the fact that I had just been laid off from my third ‘dream job’ and I unwittingly had planned this new beginning on a day when so so much for so so many…. had ended. I talked about the fact that soon after, we found out that Rylee was on her way and we bought our first home.
And then I (finally) discussed my career – the one thing I was actually asked to do.
The thought I hope I left with them is the same one I hope to leave with whomever reads this blog… As my child and her friends are moving into high school, they are already beginning to shape their futures. They are making choices that will ultimately affect their adult lives. With love, encouragement and lots of prayer, this generation of youngsters can realize fulfilling lives and careers that can (and I believe) should be the cumulative sum of as many of their life experiences as their little hearts desire. I wished for them – at very least, the degree of success that I enjoy today… and so! much! more!! And you may ask how success might be defined…
My answer… “When your 14 year old daughter is proud of you and says that you impressed her and all of her friends on career day!!!”