Happy Birthday, Paw-Paw Butch!

Today, my dad hits the big 6-0! He is spending his special day at work, educating the youth. I thought I would take this time to tell him (and you) what I think about him. My dad is the last of the true dreamers. Like most of us in our youth, Dad declared that he wanted to "make the world a better place." How many of us actually went out and tried to do that, though? Dad volunteered to join the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. He felt that helping his country defend freedom was a good way for a young person to make the world better. The politics of the war got ugly during those times, and Dad felt that his country turned its back on him and his fellow veterans. Did that make him selfish and jaded? No, he decided to give even more to his country by becoming an educator. Teachers are possibly the only professionals as underappreciated as Vietnam Vets. But Dad wanted to make the world a better place, and he knew that shaping the lives of younger generations would help achieve his goal. Over the next three decades he has been a teacher, a coach, a principal, and now an advisor to future teachers in college. During his career he has seen the politics of education change from one extreme to the other yet he has managed to devoted himself to fighting through the bureaucracy and remain focused on the student. He influenced me to become a fun and involved father and has influenced his second born son to follow in his ideological footsteps in education. He is loved by his family and has inspired thousands of young people throughout his career to also do their part in making the world a better place. So I would say, "Dad, you did it. The world is better for having you in it. On behalf of all of those whom you have affected in a positive way, thank you and Happy Birthday."