[Posted for Gary Ervin]
I am sure everyone has heard the tragic news about Dan Ott. He was a
good
father, husband, employee, and friend and will be missed by all.
In times
like this you look for answers or justification as to why bad things
happen
to good people. The business we are in comes with risk,
physical,
financial, and emotional and although we tell ourselves we are
willing to
accept these risks it is always difficult when we face things like
this.
Breaking the news to Sue and the children last night was one of the
hardest
things I have ever done. It also makes me look at the people
around me and
how I live my life. We are a family run business that has
been successful
because we care about the people around us and realize that
people are our
most valuable asset. Dan had that same outlook both on
business and his own
family. When we first met that was one of the
things I saw and admired
about Dan. He was willing to sacrifice
everything for his family and cared
about the people around
him.
Bernie and John were the first ones to the accident and when they
removed
him from the truck the following letter was on him. I think God sent
us a
message.
THE PRICE OF A
CHILD
The government recently calculated the cost of raising a
child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle-income
family. Talk about sticker
shock! That doesn’t even touch
college tuition. For those with
kids, that figure leads to wild fantasies about all the things we could have
bought, all the places we could have traveled, all the money we could have
banked if not for (insert child’s name here). For others, that number might confirm
the decision to remain childless.
But $160,140 isn’t so
bad if you break it down. It
translates into $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a week. That’s a mere $24.44 a day. Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best
financial advice says don’t have children if you want to be rich. It’s just the
opposite.
There’s no way to put
a price tag on:
·
Feeling a new life for the
first time and seeing the bump of a knee rippling across your
skin.
·
Having someone cry, “It’s a
boy!” or shout, “It’s a girl!” then hearing the baby wail and knowing all that
matters is it’s healthy.
·
Counting all 10 fingers and
toes for the first time.
·
Feeling the warmth of fat
cheeks against your breast.
·
Cupping an entire head in
the palm of your hand.
·
Making out da da or ma ma
from all the cooing and gurgling.
What do you get for
your $160,140?
·
Naming rights. First, middle and
last.
·
Glimpses of God every
day.
·
Giggles under the covers
every night.
·
More love than your heart
can hold.
·
Butterfly kisses and Velcro
hugs.
·
Endless wonder over rocks,
ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
·
A hand to hold, usually
covered with jam.
·
A partner for blowing
bubbles, flying kites, building sandcastles and skipping down the sidewalk in
the pouring rain. Someone to laugh
yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed
that day.
For $160,140, you
never have to grow up. You get to
finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs and never
stop believing in Santa Claus. You
have an excuse to keep reading the adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching
Saturday morning cartoons, going to Disney movies and wishing on stars. You get to frame rainbows, hearts and
flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray-painted noodle wreaths for
Christmas, handprints set in clay for Mother’s Day and cards with backward
letters for Father’s Day.
For $160,140, there’s
no greater bang for your buck. You
get to be a hero for just retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the
training wheels off the bike, removing a sliver, filling the wading pool,
coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs and coaching a baseball team that never wins
but always gets treated to ice cream regardless. You get a front row seat to witness the
first step, first bra, first date, first time behind the wheel. You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your
family tree, and if you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called
grandchildren. You get an education
in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications and human sexuality no
college can match.
In the eyes of a
child, you rank right up there with God.
You have the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away monsters under the bed,
patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever and love them
without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the
cost.
