Rodent Regatta

You’ve come so far. From a short, chubby-legged 4-year old to ”Approaching Center,” you have grown up in the studio. Among the new class of tall dancers, you show the grace, the peace and the uplifting love that is ballet. Your performances take people to the higher thoughts – the better things of life.

While the dancer has grown, a beautiful young woman has grown as well. Your faith and the care and concern you show for others is a light to the rest of us. Through a childhood that had a big sister calling you ”chubs,” and another big sister giggling, you stayed focused and true to a calling that few people ever hear.

You heard it at age 5. Few ever know the joy of such a fit between desire, ability and opportunity.

Every time you take the stage, I’m convinced I’ll see something that hasn’t been seen before. There’s expressiveness, entertainment and joy in what you give to all who see you. Those gifts are immeasurable in their ongoing influence. Whether it’s a 4-year old dreaming or a 38-year old mom who needed a break, they find it in what you give!

No Dad could be prouder. You are an amazing woman with a focus and a resolve that is so rare in life. God has huge plans for you and we all will share in the joy of discovering and realizing those plans.

Happy Birthday, Kiddo!

I love you,
Daddy

It’s your birthday. It’s hard to imagine that we’ve known each other for 21 years. I wish you and your granddaddy in Memphis had known each other better. Instead, we only have very few pictures of a big-eyed, quiet little girl sitting in his lap looking around. You were only seven and a half months old when he died.

Now you’re a senior in college. I couldn’t be prouder of you. You’ve got such a sweet spirit, an incredible sense of humor and God’s light shines through you in all that you do.

Dads wish daughters wouldn’t grow up. In fact, Dads may never turn loose of the little girls that first made their impressions. Was it when she first smiled at him? Was it when she first laid her head on his shoulder and cried? Was it the last time he saw her cry? Whatever the situation, daughters remain daddy’s little girls for life.

No matter how far you go; no matter how much the joy; no matter how deep the sorrow, you’ll continue to be Daddy’s little girl. Twenty-one or not, Daddy will always be at your side. One of the great joys this Dad has experienced is seeing you and your two wonderful sisters grow up as best friends, siblings and allies in everything.

May God continue to poor rich blessings on you and all that you do.

I love you,

Daddy

[Subscription may be required] Today’s Wall Street Journal also ran a story titled On the Road Again: Parents are Spending More Time Than Ever Behind the Wheel by Sue Shellenbarger. Here’s the drift:

It may not seem surprising that Leonard Sclafani, a Manhattan attorney, recently put in a 15-hour day.

He wasn’t working the entire time, though. For about six of those hours, he was behind the wheel, driving his kids to and from school, a hockey game and softball practice in towns around his Westchester County, N.Y., home and in Connecticut. ”We’re nuts” over all the driving, he says. He and his wife rack up 200 miles a week shuttling their children, 11 and 15, to music, sports, school and social activities.

If it feels like you’re doing more driving to raise your child than parents did even in the recent past—you are. A study by the Surface Transportation Policy Project, Washington, D.C., found mothers, employed or not, drive 20% more than average shuttling their kids around. And new federal data released this month show all American drivers are averaging 11% more time behind the wheel than in 1995.

Twenty of 24 working parents I surveyed say they do far more driving than they’d like. Many are racking up the equivalent of more than two extra workdays a week behind the wheel.

It’s easy to blame parents for excessive travel. Ambitious for their kids, many parents do up the ante by ”promoting” them into more competitive—and more distant—schools, competitions, leagues and clubs. Publicity about crimes against kids leads many parents to forbid even short walks.

Read the rest here.

Jackie Sherrill has wasted no time in reloading his staff. There could be some succession planning going on with these hires as well!