Taking a "Charge"

“The real winners in life are the people who look at every situation with an expectation that they can make it work or make it better” ~ Barbara Pletcher

The story was told to me the other day by a father who had been responsible for 30 some odd boys ages 12-18 to help assist them in navigating strong and safely through the storms of being a teenager, to his great surprise he realized after five years of this that he had unintentionally neglected somewhat his very own son of that age. The reality hit that for five years he had not spent any time with just his son, there were always 29 others along for the ride. The father reflected and the recollection came that his son’s favorite basketball team would be in town in just a few days to play against their home town team. He saw this as a great opportunity to take a first attempt at a reconnected with his boy. Now it is a funny thing that when you can’t afford something the cost is not all that concerning, The father called a friend with some connections with the local team and asked for a pair of lower bowl tickets. After providing his credit card number he followed with the comment that he didn’t want to even know how much the tickets were mostly because when his wife saw the bill he knew she would ask “do you know how much those tickets cost” and with complete honestly he could answer that he had no idea. When the son found out they were going his first response was a snobbish “who else is coming” fully expecting a party of 30. His Dad assured him it would only be the two of them and that he they should grab some dinner before tip-off. With surprise the boy accepted the invitation. They had a great meal and were close enough to hear the players sweat. The two were able to rekindle a great father and son relationship. The winner of the game has long since been forgotten but the value of winning the hearts of those nearest and dearest has certainly not.