It’s my dad’s birthday!

My dad is tall, goofy, dependable, funny, curious, and always up for an adventure. He’s not great at sitting still, but he’s always got a plan for what to do next. When I failed to launch my initial college career and landed back in his house, he made a couple calls and got me into a school close to home for freshman year. When I finally moved out, he spent the next ten years sending me a handwritten postcard EVERY WEEK. He’s super hard to buy gifts for, because while he loves golf and Virginia Tech football and he travels all the time and he’s become something of a foodie in his retirement and is always interested in what to read next, his main interest is PEOPLE.

Which, to be fair, he gets pretty honestly. Dad told me recently, when he retired, that he did not miss work much at all, but he did really miss the people. He’s a numbers guy, but by the time he retired he was also the Guy In Charge, and I think some of his most rewarding successes were less to do with accounting and far more to do with winning the trust and forging authentic relationships with the people he worked with – the ones who were in charge of him, and the ones he ended up in charge of himself. “You know, B,” he said, “people just want to be seen and respected.”

So, if you see Rob today – in the real world or online – wish him a good one. It’s been a rough year, a rough couple of years, and he could maybe use an extra dose of love and joy. I’m so glad he was born, and I’m so glad he’s my dad.