[15 years ago this week, I started this here public scholarly blog. There have been lots of twists and turns since, and the best ones have been aided & abetted by wonderful folks. So for my 15th (!) anniversary series, I wanted to pay tribute to a handful of those moments and people, leading up to this special weekend tribute to my first and best reader!]
Just over nine months ago, we lost my Dad. I’ve had the chance to pay tribute to him in a number of different ways this year, as of course I’ve done on this blog many times (but never sufficient to express all that he meant to me). Speaking of this blog, I don’t know that I can put it any more clearly than this: very soon after I started it he figured out how to become a follower, meaning that he would get each day’s post by email; in our daily email exchanges he would respond to my posts a very significant percentage of the time; and to this day, quite literally to the moment that I’m drafting this post, I still think of him as my first and favorite reader for anything and everything I write here. I still can’t quite believe that I’ll never get to read his thoughts on a blog post again (I don’t imagine that will ever entirely sink in, and I’m okay with that), but I promise you that for as long as I write here, and as long as I write and work and teach and parent and love and live, he will be a defining presence. I miss you and love you, Dad.
Veterans Day series starts Monday,
Ben
PS. Please feel free to say hi and share any blog responses or ideas in comments!
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