Thanks From An Eternally Grateful Son

One year ago today, my father Frank Edmond passed away.  As I start a busy last business day of the quarter, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the great influence my Dad had upon me and his drive to make his children’s lives better than his every day.  You see my Dad was not college educated and law school education for a farm boy who came to California from Oklahoma in the 50’s must have sounded like an unobtainable pie in the sky proposition.  However, everything about my Dad and his upbringing were about pushing the envelope to make his children’s lives better than his.  My Dad did that by showing me what hard work is on a daily basis.  He woke up at 3:45a to drive a bus throughout Silicon Valley (a One Million Mile Award recipient).  While driving that bus all those miles, he no doubt dreamt of the day that his next generation would be working in one of the many offices that he drove passed. As I sit here as a lawyer in one of those Silicon Valley companies, I cannot help but be eternally grateful for the sacrifice my Dad made to advance his family.  Thank you Dad for teaching me hard work toward making my next generation better, that God and family are first, and underscoring always that my greatest strength will always be my intellectual capacity and not my athletic capability.  With that said, I know my Dad would be giving the "get back to work" look right now, so that is what I will do.

Picture above was taken on signing day with the University of South Florida. Note the bus driver uniform as my Dad went right back to work after the signing!