Over the last 2 months I have received permission from my wife to go to Utah with my family, invest our money into a new business and leave again for a weekend camp with my parents (the older 2 kids went with me) then expand the new business before we actually have it set up and then agrees to let me hike Mount Humphrey with my partners in July. Caroline is not the most impulsive person around and a lot of times people think we plan things out some time in advance before doing much. I am truly blessed to be married to such a wonderful person and great mother. I could never have found anyone who fits me better and thought the world should know.
Spending so time with my parents/family as I have over the last couple of months has made me think about the examples I was given as I grew up. My father was always present while I was growing up. I fondly remember the kind words he had when times were tough. "Life's not fair" was so comforting when I was cut from the 7th grade basketball team. "I wasn't related to the right people" I felt and I think he may have felt it as well but he would never let that be a good excuse. Instead he told me to work hard, practice hard and I would make the team the following year. Well as always, I did exactly what he told me to do, made the team and was voted MVP by the players at the end of the year. Life is not fair but one thing that has followed me is a lucky streak. "It's hard to detect good luck - it looks so much like something you've earned." ~Frank A. Clark
Dad likes to say "Eric's the kind of guy who can fall into a bucket of s#@! and come out smelling like a rose". The funny thing is I have never won the lotto or raffles, I have won a couple of silent bids but I out worked the other bidders. Many of things in life are truly unfair but if we sit and dwell on them instead of trying to change them the status quo will continue. My luck, I believe, comes from that advice and more I received as I grew up. Where I have truly been lucky is my parents, my wife and my kids. Of course these to are dependent on the hard work everyone is willing to put into it. Which brings me to another one of Dads sayings "Do it" but I will talk about that some other time.
I have been touched by the passing of Tim Russert and how people thought of him. Caring for the success of others as much as himself, more concerned about family and friends then work, but always being prepared for work and expecting the same from everyone else and making sure every day was filled with laughter. I think Dad has many of those same qualities and I will strive to be better with those things as well. In fact I was thinking of writing a book about dad and I've already got the title "Big Cox: Father of Seven: the name says it all"
