Yes, I know that role. Any father does. It takes time to adjust.

But as Dave says, the view from Second fiddle is actually pretty good. You can follow, as well as lead, and your notes are amplified as they spread out into space.

I like it now, even if I struggled against it at times, way back then.

Bad pies can be found in many different locations.

Grocery store freezers,
Grocery store bakeries,
Denney’s,
Baker’s Square, to name a few.

Great pie has layers. It comes from family. It’s steeped with tradition. It grows through generations.

The crust is the most important. Bad crust, bad pie, period. End of discussion.

Make the perfect crust, fill it with anything, you have a winner.

Make the effort, take the time, spend the money for the filling. Store bought is noticed.

Bake it, top it, and enjoy.

I’m sitting here trying to understand why life and children can’t be this simple? Is it that there is no formula for success? That there is no blueprint to follow? That there is no guide to point you in the right direction? That there is no book that offers advice that fits your situation?

Could it be that we have to wing it? Learn from those decisions gone bad, made with little or no experience? Try desperately to not make those same mistakes, again? What I’m trying to say is, learn from our family, our past, our mistakes.

Our children, all five of them, taught us how to move into the next generation. How to cherish the past while embracing the new, and look forward to the future.

Linda and I have to look into the future with one less set of eyes guiding us.

I am confident that the layers we have before us and the layer that precedes us will fill this family with a new opus.

I’m grateful to be in the concert hall.