Dear Beautiful Soul,

Today’s Letter is a guest post from my fabulous father. Enjoy!

Pyrrus Should Have Listened to His Dad

At this juncture in my life I find myself 87, single, living in a big house with a 28 year old grandson. We are “two ships that pass in the night” for he has other interests and pithy advice from an old man is more than he can bear.

Despite my obnoxious penchant to preach from my soapbox, every Monday my eldest son (father of the grandson whom I pass in the night) and I have a late afternoon lunch at a very good restaurant overlooking the Tennessee River. It is a meeting we both look forward to. It is an effort for my son to leave his home, for he prefers a life of partial solitude. (Thoreau didn’t stay at the pond all the time . . . ) I hope these meetings affirm a father’s love for his son and I enjoy his company.

So we sit at the restaurant with a spectacular view of the river enjoying a three course meal of raw oysters followed by mussels and clams in a wine broth and finally fried shrimp with black beans and rice. We have the common history of family, past adventures, the joy of good food and the beauty of the outdoors to discuss. We have clung to each other through many happenings.

At the end of the meal, we discuss the joy of these meetings. Something to brighten the experience of an indifferent world and also to forget, even for a moment, our physical adversities. Exalting in pleasure we declare the event a victory. We comment on how few victories there are as we age but we snatched this heartwarming moment from a cold day and it will go down in our memories as a great, valorous victory.

But the victory is not in the moment of good food, or the view of the river or the waiters who know us by name. The victory is in the fact that we can recognize and declare this golden moment a victory.

~William T. Miller

Victories are good. So are dads.

Let’s keep the good going and growing . . .

XO Laura

PS. A big thanks to my dad for this lovely guest post. He’ll be back soon as I’ve asked him to be a regular contributor. He’s one of the constants in my life and its a joy to share him with you.

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