Right Wisdom

I wrote and gave this speech last fall. This is honor of my dad on fathers day! It was Thanksgiving Day 2002 and my wife, kids and I had just arrived at my in-laws house to celebrate Thanksgiving. You could smell the turkey and hear the sound of football in the background along with young cousins jabbering about the fun they were about to have. I just settled down on the couch when the phone rang thinking nothing about it until my brother-in-law tells me the phone is for me. Someone calling me at my in-laws is not a good sign especially on a holiday. It was my oldest sister and the moment she spoke I knew it wasn’t good news. She went to pick up my dad for Thanksgiving dinner and found him dead in his bed. He passed away the way he always wanted to go, in his sleep. It didn’t make it any easier for the rest of us. My mom had passed away 6 years earlier on New Years Eve so it was now left to the three of us to be the leaders of the family. The drive that day from Andover to Eagan was ...