A Letter To My Dads,

Yes, I said Dad’s

When I was younger my parents divorced, but that didn’t stop either of them from being absolutely incredible parents and in the end both of them ended up getting re-married. It’s because of my father Henry and my step-father Matt, that I am the man who I am today, because of them I learned THE most important value of my life.

My Father Henry and I in my Teens

My Step-Father Matt and I the day he married my mom

It wasn’t their incredible WORK ETHIC

It wasn’t their INVINCIBLE RESILIENCY

It wasn’t their UNWAVERING MOTIVATION

It wasn’t their UNSTOPPABLE AMOUNT OF PATIENCE

And it definitely wasn’t their ENDLESS AMOUNT OF LOVE

They planted a value in me that would eventually root in the core of my being…

I wanted to be them; I wanted to be a father just like them

I want to teach my son how to setup a tent, I want to teach him how to throw, how to put a worm on a hook, and I especially want someone to look up to me like I looked up to them.

They had no problem telling me when I had done something wrong and holding me accountable, but then shortly after would tell me “IF you’re going to do something stupid, don’t get caught.”

I CLUNG to every lesson they taught me, every nugget of information, and WATCHED them like a hawk every chance I could get just to learn something new.

My father and I after my first fitness competition

My Step-Father and I cleaning up the yard after Hurricane Sandy

What they didn’t realize (at least not that I know of) was that I was ALWAYS WATCHING

They taught me with every LOSS comes VICTORY

They taught me that you can be PROUD while remaining HUMBLE

They taught me to be RESPECTFUL when faced with ANGER

They taught me to be PATIENT instead of FRUSTRATED

And they taught me to be KIND when someone was INCONSIDERATE

We all have someone in our lives that we look up to, someone who stands for something and won’t fall for anything. The morale of the story is that someone will look at you the same way I looked up to my Dads or someone will look at you in a different light. Every action, every inaction you take part in will have some level of influence on your life or the lives of those around you.

If you have a rough day and take it out on the coffee barista you demonstrate cruelty

If you are frustrated with your waiter/waitress you demonstrate impatience and rudeness

I am finally at the point in my life where I do have someone watching me; my son Luca.

One of the greatest moments of my life was hearing him scream for the first time at the hospital. The moment that I had been waiting for was finally here, I could finally show someone what I had been taught, how I had been raised, and I could know that feeling that my Dad’s had felt through all those shared experiences.

My whole life I wanted to be a Dad and now I am.

Luca is over a year old now and I know now more than ever his little brain is soaking up every nuance of my facial expressions AND my physical actions.

The kid has already deadlifted his first 5lb weight…Hysterical, but also back to the crux of the matter SOMEONE IS ALWAYS WATCHING YOU.

Someone is watching what you eat

Someone is watching how you exercise

Someone is watching how you react

Someone is ALWAYS watching the choices you make

If you don’t have kids then walk away with that lesson and know that your actions/inactions will cause ripples into some stranger’s life. Those ripples can be negative or positive, but you can bet your bottom dollar that a totally different stranger in Starbucks is paying attention to you being rude and yelling at the barista.