"I couldn't live without you, Toby. I mean it. I'd be in the tall grass. I'd be in the weeds."
President Jed Bartlett spoke these appreciative words to his Communication Director, Toby Ziegler, in an episode of "The West Wing." It was no small acknowledgement.
In my classroom at Parkview there was a green pillar just next to my desk. One side of the pillar was visible only from the one spot in the room that the kids couldn't claim. On it I placed pictures, quotes, reminders that helped me make it through each day. That quote was among them. When I read it, the people in my life who kept me on the fairway flashed through my mind. In doing so, they were with me. Every day.
This Father's Day, I am reminded of those words. The excellent fathers I know--including my own--ARE that quote to their kids (grown or not) and likely to a great many others. Good dads take care. They keep us out of the tall grass. Out of the weeds. Or, if we find ourselves there, they find a way to help us out.
Happy Father's Day to those exceptional dads who have made exceptional people who are equipped to dream big and stay their own course. And to my Tobys near and far who help me be better than I otherwise would be, I couldn't live without you.
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