Wally

Anyone who knows me, knows my dad. He has a larger than life character and almost everyone he meets likes him immediately. It's something about his good'ol boy approach to life that is contagious and makes everyone around him want to be more like him.

My dado, as I call him, has given my sister and me, and all the kids he has taken into our home, a lot over the years. But like most fathers, it wasn't the shoes and yankee games that meant the most over the years but rather the intangibles.

Two things I carry with me each day, I got from my dado. Whoa, that was by far an understatement. I carry a lot each day that I got from him but two particular things I'm really proud of and use as much as possible, is what I meant.....

The first is ambition. Dado not only taught me the importance of having ambition and always wanting more, but he showed me how it works too. He has a pretty remarkable life and got all of it with his own two hands. No matter what I do or where I go, from playing softball to working in the capitol, in places like New York City to right here in Austin, I will always be ambitious, and to Dado I owe that credit.

The next is a phrase he says to me, which I think of often.

       "Sometimes the best lesson is what not to do."

Today people are constantly searching for examples to follow when they could learn more, and do more, on their own if they take from situations "what not to do." In good times it's easy to follow someone else's lead. But after a poor experience most people walk away with nothing at all. A missed opportunity they assume. Well, not me. I try to find something to learn from, and more times than not, it's simply how not to act, or react, or respond. And that practice has been more valuable than simply replicating a good example.

My dado taught me these, and because of that, I'm pretty sure I’ll be successful in life. No matter what it is I'm doing professionally or personally I want to do the best job I can, that's my ambition. And when I fail or see someone else fail, I'm equipped with his lesson to benefit from that experience as well.

Those combined with the unconditional love (that I more than challenged a number of times in my life) is why my dado is such a great father.

So here's to you Dado, thanks for the love, the life lessons, and of course, all the shoes and yankee games too!!

I love you and Happy Father's Day.

xoxo Sara Marie