There's nothing better than being a dad

One of our own reached a milestone this past week. Publisher Jeremy Speer talked about celebrating his 40th birthday. He's my boss — one of many I have had in my years at the Norwalk Reflector — and I can say without a doubt he's been my best one. Sucking up to the boss? Call it it what you want. I just call it the truth. A good boss makes my job a whole lot easier. Jeremy turned 40 this past week. Our oldest daughter, Jordan, just turned 38. To quote myself, "I have shoes older that that." What I appreciate about Jeremy's column is he talked not only about being the best newspaper man he can be, but — more importantly — being the best husband and father. The Speers have two young daughters who won't be so young for long. Right now there are games and dances and homework and school. That, as many of you know, is the easy part. Jody and I raised three daughters and are now working on grandchildren. What the Speers have to look forward to is boys, homecoming dances, heartbreak, proms, more heartbreak, graduation and then an empty nest. But slow down, because you can't go from point A to point B with a lot of stops and detours. I will tell Jeremy the same thing I tell all of my buddies — enjoy every second of life. That means instead of playing golf on a beautiful Saturday afternoon spend time in a gym for AAU basketball or at a park somewhere for a soccer tournament. Jody and I spent a lot of time in gyms around the country watching Junior Olympic volleyball. We went from every Easter weekend in Baltimore for about seven years in a row to trips to New Orleans, Salt Lake City and everywhere in between. Too bad Jeremy's daughters don't play volleyball, because I bet he would make a good line judge. Every parent just loves to be a line judge! It won't be long before Jeremy has his daughter in the car learning how to drive. If he thinks getting five of his own newspapers out each day is tough — along with a number of other papers from around Northwest Ohio — wait until he is in that passenger seat looking for his break pedal when they come up to a stop sign. Then there will be dress shopping for homecomings and proms. And it's not just dresses — it's everything else that goes with them. Get your wallet out. Soon, it will be graduations and college. Jeremy, like me, was born and raised in Michigan and I am sure there will be some college trips "Up North" for the girls. After that will come weddings and, eventually, his own grandchildren. But let's get back on track. Enjoy life and enjoy your family, because without that you have nothing. This is a tough job a lot of the time. There is so much negativity and bad news to digest every day. That's why I tell everybody to look past all of that and enjoy what you can. Think about that the next time you are driving to a soccer match, an AAU basketball, softball or a JO tournament. Enjoy every second of it, because once they are gone, they are gone. I remember when I was 40. Some might say those were the good old days. I would say they were the greatest days of my life. Now it's time to pass the baton and let the next generation of dads take over. Jeremy, you're up. Joe Centers is Reflector community editor. He can be reached at jcenters@norwalkreflector.com.