An Aptly Spoken E-Mail

Just recently I received an e-mail from my dad. I actually see my dad several times each week, so I expected this note to be what our e-mails usually are: business-oriented, work type stuff. Well, it started off that way, but then the man that I've just now started to really understand surprised me. He complimented me. More than that, his tone was such that I actually did a double-take to make sure the note wasn't from my mother (she does stuff like that all the time - no surprises, there...). Indeed, my father had definitely written the e-mail. He used words that were so personal and well, REAL, that they stopped me in my tracks. A thousand people could have written me 10,000 words and they wouldn't have meant as much to me as this one note from my dad.

Now, I don't want to leave the wrong impression - my dad is a great guy. Always has been. He is known and loved by lots of folks. It's just that I think maybe the two of us are changing as life rolls on, and so, considering our history, this e-mail was significant to me.

It affirmed my dad's love and approval - yes, approval - of me. I am nearly 40 years old and frankly, I don't need anybody's approval, thank you very much. But to receive it from my dad was . . . well, more profound than I thought it would be.

It just goes to show that no matter how old we are, our parents are hugely important figures in our lives (for good or ill) and the blessing a parent can give a child is timeless, and always beneficial. So now I have a few more thoughts to chew on when I head out on my motorcycle this week for a few days of solitary refinement.