As we come to the end of August, I reflect on what has been and what is to come in these final weeks. I consider myself a big family man, as many of you have probably come to know.
Everything that I have experienced growing up and everything that I have done as a father was always about making family memories.
As a little boy, I remember my mother and father taking us to Hershey Park on the 4th of July, enjoying the rides and staying for the fireworks. I remember going to Island Beach State Park for either a day or a week (we always went the week of August 15, the Assumption) and my father threw us under the shower right after playing on the beach all day with the water so cold that you thought it was being piped right down from Canada. Maybe that experience was what inspired me to do the Polar Plunge this past year!
This August has been pretty memorable for us as a family. At the beginning of the month, we went down the shore for the weekend to my sister-in-law’s as it has become a summer tradition. August 5th was a happy and sad day. The happy memory of that day is that my wife and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary, but on this same day, a year ago, was the passing of my father. Although this is a sad memory, it comes with a celebration of his life, what he taught me as a man, my religious beliefs, and the example he made for me of what it was like to be a great father. I love you and I miss you Dad! Later that week, my son went back to college, this time making the trip on his own as he gets his first taste of the working world by taking on his first of three internships. Many might not have been happy with tropical storm Debbie, but I was because it allowed us to have another day with our son! I really did miss taking that 6-hour trip up to Rochester. This weekend comes the rough one, the one I have been dreading. This weekend we are taking my daughter up to college for her freshman year. I am happy for her because of the new friends she will make, memories she will cherish, and the beginning of her journey that God has planned, but I will miss my little girl and her contagious smile and presence.
Although some of our friends are looking forward to becoming empty nesters, I am not. Please don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to enjoying some time with my wife like I did before we had kids. I am looking forward to those “date” nights and spur of the moment trips. I am just not looking forward to having both my kids away from home, however when they do come home, it will just make it all that more memorable.
Life can get busy, we can lose track of time and, before we know it, the important things in life will pass us by. So remember to be present at the moment, to take the time to enjoy family and friends, and create memories that will last a lifetime.
God bless!
John G. Napoli
