The Loch

"If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough." Unknown

When my kids were small, and their friends would join us for dinner, I sometimes asked a conversation- starting question. My kids would roll their eyes in anticipation.

I’d say, “Have you heard of Loch Ness?” Many had not, but for those who had, I would follow up with, “Do you believe in the Loch Ness Monster?” And all fell into one camp or the other. Either they believed, or they did not.

So, when John was twelve, and we were sitting in the car waiting for his sisters to come out of their theater class, I asked, “Why don’t we swim across the Loch Ness?” He was immediately for it.

I said, “One day you’ll be sitting in a pub, and you’ll turn to your mates and ask, 'Did I ever tell you fellas about the time I swam across the Loch Ness?'” John’s immediate and emphatic addition to that was, “with my dad!” I loved that. As the girls grew older, they wanted to go too. The Loch is roughly twenty-six miles long and one mile wide, and I know which way we are going to swim.

It’s on our list, and we are going to do it. We’re planning it and looking forward to it. So, my question to you is this, “What do you really want to do, and when are you going to do it?”

-Hank Frazee