"Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching."
Proverbs 1:8,  New International Version

The man who raised me since I was 11, Bob, is my dad.  My mom is my mom.  They both have taught me things over the years that I still live by today.  Such as ...

... one of the first things Bob and I did together after he married my mom was wash his car.  I was 11 ... I had more important things to do than to wash his car.  I'm sure I was missing out on a bike ride, or a baseball game ... I know I missed out on something fun.  My job was to wash the car windows.  Windex and rag in hand I blew threw them like nobody's business.  When I was done, Bob walked around the car and inspected my work. 

"Is that the best you could do?"
"Yep."
"Really?"
"Yep .. that's the best I could do."
"So if I offered you a million dollars to do a better job, could you do it?"
"For a million dollars?  Heck yes."
"So then it's not the best you could do?"

Silence ...  I've referred back to that day countless times over the years.  And countless times I came to the conclusion that I could do better.  I had a particular intern that worked for me who hated that story ... :)

My mother showed my brothers and I what it meant to work hard (well ... unless I was washing windows I guess).  Only I didn't realize that's what she was showing us until I had graduated from college.  A friend of hers told me the most moving story about my mother; something she would never share with us herself.  Not that it was a big deal.  With all we went through as a family, she just wanted to be strong for us.  Such as ...

... at the age of 19 my mother had already had her first child, been married, and divorced.  She and her son, my older brother David who was killed in a car wreck in 1977, were living in a low rent apartment on Shiawassee Street near downtown Lansing.  She was unemployed, and had no idea what she was going to do.  She eventually was able to apply for a job with one of the courts downtown, clerking for a judge.  She submitted her application and was selected to be interviewed.  My mom is one smart and sophisticated woman.  I'm sure her interview was a slam dunk.  Unfortunately it wasn't good enough ... she was not hired.  That night she was walking around in her two room apartment, holding David in her arms, wondering what she was going to do next.  She literally didn't know how they were going to eat the next day, or pay the next rent payment. 

I don't know what made her think to do this ... she's tough, and doesn't give up easily I guess.  She may be a bit stubborn too, like her father.  Anyway, later that week she contacted the judge's office, to thank them again for the opportunity, and if anything were to change, she'd be happy to interview again.  During the call the judge's secretary told my mother that the woman they hired wasn't working out, and wondered if my mom could start the following Monday.  That was 1959.  52 years later she's a successful attorney, having owned her own practice for the last 24 years or so.  I don't know why she didn't get the job in the first place.  I do know that her not getting the job, then following through just in case, taught me much more than if she had gotten it first.

I'm going to end with the lyrics to a country song called "Voices".  It's by one of my favorite artists, Chris Young.  Even though it amazes my dad and mom that I ever listened to them, all these years later I still hear their voices in my head, guiding me through life's ups and downs.  God bless you, and good night.


You could say I'm a little bit crazy
You could call me insane
Walkin' 'round with all these whispers
Runnin' 'round here in my brain
I just can't help but hear 'em
Man, I can't avoid it

I hear voices
I hear voices like
My dad sayin' work that job
But don't work your life away
Mama tellin' me to drop some cash
In the offering plate on Sunday
And granddad sayin' you can have a few
But don't ever cross that line
Yeah I hear voices all the time

Turns out I'm pretty dang lucky
For all that good advice
Those hard to find words of wisdom
Holed up here in my mind
And just when I've lost my way
Or I got too many choices

I hear voices
I hear voices like
My dad sayin' quit the team
And you'll be a quitter for the rest of your life
Mama tellin' me to say a prayer
Every time I lay down at night
And grandma sayin' if you find the one
You'd better treat her right
Yeah, I hear voices all the time

Sometimes I try to ignore 'em
But I thank God for 'em
'Cause they made me who I am

My dad sayin' work that job
But don't work your life away
Mama tellin' me to drop some cash
In the offering plate on Sunday
And granddad sayin' you can have a few
But don't ever cross that line
Yeah I hear voices all the time
Yeah I hear voices all the time
All the time