I remember it like yesterday. A crisp winter day that would easily pass for fall in Minnesota. College Basketball season. I was in Raleigh-Durham walking on the campus of Duke University toward Cameron Indoor Stadium with the two men who had the most significant impact on my life. My father. My brother.
We put together what would be our first and only Father-Son’s weekend retreat as a gift to our Dad for his 70th birthday. It was the perfect gift built around the thing our father loved the most. College Basketball. Specifically ACC Basketball. He was a player. He was a coach. He was back on Tobacco Road with his two boys.
We were about to take in the first game of a double header. A Saturday matinee featuring Duke and Georgia Tech followed by a Sunday showdown between North Carolina and North Carolina State (where he first attended school on a basketball scholarship). It was a special weekend.
That weekend was about so much more than two basketball games. It was about history. Tradition. Rivalry. Competition. Camaraderie. Respect. Passion. Love. Lessons. The kind of lessons that may not be so abrupt. That you may not recognize until later. It was about a walk down memory lane and sharing story, after story, after story, after story. Our father had more than a few and on that weekend we just let him go. This was his place. His moment. His memories.
It was a weekend we wouldn’t soon forget.
I am actually back in Raleigh, North Carolina for the first time since that Father-Son weekend. The memory of my last visit is certainly on my mind. So are those lessons.
I am reminded how important it is to take the time to make those meaningful memories happen. They are the treasures you get to take with you, wherever life takes you.
I am reminded to see the teacher in all things. Losing someone reminds you not to take people for granted.
I am reminded that our time here is short and to spend it wisely and in worthwhile pursuits.
I am reminded to always do my best. I intend to do that today.
I actually feel quite inspired to be back in North Carolina.
I am grateful for the opportunity to share my ideas and inspiration with this wonderful community.
I hope it becomes a new memory. One we won’t soon forget.
