My family is my rock. No ifs and or buts about it. Beyond being the folks that raised me, they are my constant supporters in everything I do. Today’s post is all about my dad and what he’s taught me. I’ve written about our family history and if I could figure out hyper linking on an iPad I’d totally link back…sorry, but his family is fascinating. My post earlier this week was about my mom and many of her wonderful traits that I see in myself, but today, this story is about my dad.

He taught my brothers and I curiosity – in my opinion, a core tenet in the life of successful happy people. Life isn’t boring when you are curious, there is value in learning something new, anything new, and curiosity didn’t kill the cat, it just taught him something new – he has nine lives, not one as previously thought before curiosity. Along with that curiosity, we got into tons of trouble: a burning boat at a Venetian night on the lake I grew up on, learning how many fireworks it takes to successfully blow up a Ft. Dearborn model made from pretzels, the basics of engines – steam and internal combustion, how to use power tools (safety first), how to build a lofted bed and not hit your head, mastery of tedious handmade pasta and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies… we learned a lot.

Of course none of these adventurous things play a role in my day to day life (but I’d be happy to build furniture and engines all day), the curiosity for everything remains. Flying used to scare me a tad because I didn’t get it – large metal objects don’t fly. Until you learn physics and it all makes sense….well, it makes sense to a PhD, but the basics of physics make me feel safe, you get the point. Learning will help you conquer all fears – real and rational or those other kinds of fear (ahem, irrational anxiety).

My dad taught us to question things, my mom taught us to trust our emotions, and together they taught us about the importance of love in a home. They are the people that make me want to shine brighter, go further, be smarter, and laugh more. Day five of love! Tomorrow will be about my girlfriends. Unless of course we drink too much wine at my bestest’s annual dip party and I postpone the post until Saturday.