Sit down with your dad 2

I hate it when I hit the wrong key too soon before I've finished the post. Read the first one below and then this one.

ANYWAY, my dad and I had a chance to talk while I introduced my new Alzheimer's book to the world. I told him how I've finally started investing in myself in the last year and how much more self-confidence and courage I have to change this world for the better, whether it's ready to be improved or not.

Then he told me a story about himself I had never heard before. He told of how he was class president when he was in the sixth grade and how he wanted to be a leader. However, as his school career progressed, his parents discouraged and didn't allow him to engage socially with his classmates after school, which disappointed him. His parents had no money to send him, the eldest of their four children, to college, where my dad so desperately wanted to go because he knew an education was the path to getting ahead in this world.

After high school graduation, Dad met a man who was building a company and offered my dad a chance to go to college. This guy would pay his way. All the details were arranged, and my dad turned in his notice to quit his job and even had a celebration with his friends as he prepared to embark on this new life adventure.

But then this man's company suddenly had some financial difficulties, and he left town … and my dad's dreams behind.

Dad looked off into the distance while he told this story, and I couldn't miss the sadness in his eyes and the way he sighed. He ended up taking some night classes for a while, but he never got the college degree that he wanted so badly. His attention turned to getting a good job, married and having a child, me. Even though he had a successful career, he wondered how far he would have gone if he had had that degree.

In this moment, I really hated that jerk who let my dad down. Now, I certainly better understand his pride when I graduated from college at age 21. I also realized that the tiniest change in history affects everything that follows. Who would I be if my dad had completed college? Would I even be here? Sorry, but I can't resist one of those philosophical questions that pop into my head every day …

I've talked with many people through the years who have complained about things their parents did or didn't do. I know I've done the same as I looked at everything from MY perspective, not theirs. One of the hardest life lessons we learn is that when we get to know our parents as individuals, as ordinary people, we better understand the decisions they've made, the disappointments they've experienced, the everyday challenges they've faced as human beings, what gave them joy.

Suddenly they're one of "us." While that can be heartbreaking in some instances, it's also very heartwarming and comforting.

Sit down today with your mom, dad, step-mom, step-dad, mom-in-law, dad-in-law and have THE talk about the REAL facts of life. This session is far less technical than that silly story about the birds and the bees.

That's Sit Down With Your Dad 101.