“No, no, no can’t be. I distinctly remember. Your birthday was last year.”
Before Spotify and Apple Music, there was a website called Rhapsody. In many ways, it was ahead of its time. Similar to Limewire, there was a time you could find and download songs for free. Eventually, they began running a very similar business model to Spotify where you pay monthly for unlimited music. I loved it. I would download all sorts of music to my Zune mp3 player. One of the things I will forever miss about Rhapsody, was the feature where it essentially told you your all time Spotify Wrapped type stats. At any given moment, I could look up my all time most played songs. When the day came to finally graduate from Rhapsody to Spotify, I took one last glance at my all time listening statistics. I’ve revealed, famously, that my #7 most played song was “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch.” but I don’t think I’ve ever revealed what my #1 most played song was.
Before we reveal, let’s take a break to hear from one of our sponsors.
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Time for the big reveal! The number one most played song during my Rhapsody era was Summer of ‘69 by Bryan Adams. I still love that song. But I don’t want to talk about the summer of ‘69 today. I want to talk about what happened 59 years ago today in the summer of ‘65; my dad was born. Happy Birthday Dad!! That’s right everyone, this is a big ole shout out edition of the Daily Dispatch. I am so proud to be my father’s son. For years I’ve said that if I’m half the man my dad is someday, I’ll be a really good man. I still wholeheartedly believe that. Let me tell you a bit about him.
I’ve known my dad since the day I was born. Immediately I felt some sort of connection to him, ya know? He has that way of being where I’ve felt like we’ve always kinda been a part of each other. I can’t explain it. He’s taught me a lot of lessons through the years like how to walk and talk and feed myself and go to the bathroom. Which, honestly, I’m pretty freaking good at thanks to his guidance.
My dad grew up in small town Tennessee. His dad didn’t go to high school, but worked hard to provide for his family. A country boy who was driving a Frito-Lay truck for money found his way to college at Tennessee Tech where he met my mom. While there, he had a roommate who said he could talk to ghosts and told my parents, after either their first date or when they were just friends I can’t remember the story perfectly, that they were going to get married. They did, and 5 years later I was born. That’s right. My dad is directly responsible for you wasting time on a Friday morning reading this. Crazy, right? More importantly, my dad began working hard to provide for the family that was to come. By the time I was born, he was genuinely very successful. Making more money than he could have dreamed of and having the “C- suite” title to go with it. After I was born, my dad still had to travel a lot. A few years later, my little brother Cole was born. That’s right, my dad is directly responsible for many people, including myself, wasting time on Monday mornings reading Cole’s newsletter titled the Information Inquiry. Crazy, right? More importantly, my dad took a step back and asked himself what it meant to be successful in life. While many would say he had made it with the title and money, he desired a different success: the success of being the best husband and father he could be. He turned down a potential role that genuinely would have led to generational wealth, but essentially being away from his family at all hours, and took a lower pay and title. He was always home for dinner. He was at every game, every recital, every pivotal moment.
When I was a kid, my dad and I used to tell stories at night. He would make one up and have me make one up. It was a way for me to tell him what was going on in my life without having to meet it head on. It was also a way to grow my creativity as a storyteller. He invested in every way he could in my brother’s incredible musical abilities. I watched my dad put my mom first day after day. My dad took us to church, read his Bible every morning, and led people to faith in front of us. He practiced everything he preached. My dad is not perfect, but man is he the kind of man I want to be.
He is one of the funniest people I know, he is disciplined. He is hard working. He is humble and gentle. He absolutely loves the Andy Griffith show. He is unbelievably generous. Dad, I’m proud to be your son. I hope you feel celebrated and appreciated today. Happy Birthday! I love you.
For everyone else still reading, whether or not it is a loved one’s birthday today, reach out to someone you care about. Maybe it’s your dad or mom or sibling. Maybe it is someone who has filled that role in your life in one way or another. All of us have someone, or many someones, who have shaped us into who we are. I urge you to take a quick moment to let them know how much they mean to you. I think my dad would agree it is a good use of your time.
