Be Your Best

Todd Gifford with Dad and Brother on Dad’s 75th Birthday

What does the number 75 represent?

75 Years ago, Jesse Owens won 4 Gold Medals at the 1936 Olympics, setting multiple world records in the process, to upset Hitler’s Aryan racial superiority showcase.  75 is considered the ‘Diamond’ anniversary year, 75 is the atomic number for the chemical element rhenium, and 75 (degrees Fahrenheit) is the perfect temperature for a nice picnic outing or a wonderful score in golf.

But more than these things, the number 75 this year represents how old my dad is.  It’s hard to believe that he is 75 years old, as I tend to take mental snapshots at certain points in time in my life and see things based on those static images, regardless of how much time passes.  The permanent image that I have in mind of my dad is from when I was about 5 or 6 years old.  At this age, dad is larger than life, with a strength and toughness that is unmatched.  Basically he can do no wrong, and he is pretty ‘old and wise’.  Ironically, at that age, he was about 14 years younger than I am now!  Wow.

Although I remember a fair bit from that 5 year old to 8 year old timeframe, my most vivid memories with my dad are from family vacations and holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, and from playing hockey.  This is probably because I have viewed photos in photo albums of these events quite a few times since then, embedding the images even more permanently and clearly in my mind.

What do you get for 75 years?

Not sure about you, but buying birthday presents for my dad and my wife’s dad is usually pretty tough.  When you get to their 75th birthday, you are looking at doing something pretty significant.  However, my dad made it very clear this year, for his 75th birthday, all he wanted was to play a round of golf with his two kids (his two sons) and then have lunch with us and mom afterwards.

Although this seemed to me like too insignificant of a gift for him for a milestone like 75 years old, being the wise man he is, he knew it was actually the most valuable gift he could receive AND give at the same time.

It was, of course, sunny and 75 degrees outside that day, for a wonderful round of golf.  Although none of us shot 75 for 18 holes, or anything close to that, it was a near perfect day.  How many times do you spend 4-5 consecutive hours of quality time with your dad or other significant loved one these days?  Not nearly enough for me.  Although I now live just a couple of hours away from my dad and mom, the distance makes it such that I don’t see them often enough.  It turns out that on his 75th Birthday, my dad did the gift-giving, and gave me a priceless gift — which was to spend quality and undistracted time with him, my mom, and my brother.

Which is a great reminder…

This is an excellent reminder for me, to make sure that I schedule in more quality time with my family.  I say ‘schedule’ not because it is something that should have to be scheduled, but because it needs to be.  And if I don’t schedule it, time gets away from me.  Just spending time with family seems so easy, that it will just happen naturally.  The fact is that nothing of high value happens naturally.  Everything great and valuable requires hard work, consistent effort, and practice — and quality time with family is no different.  My dad understands that, and hence, scheduling golf with his sons on his 75th birthday.

Just this past weekend, I was watching a TV show that really reminded me how short of a time we are on this planet, which temporarily put me in a bit of a downer mode.  But that transformed quickly into reminding me that I need to get a lot accomplished each and every day, starting with today — right now.  So, lucky number 75 is all about the “now”, and maximizing your time with friends and family and maximizing your life experiences.  Schedule them in and often!

Be Your Best,
Todd D. Gifford