I have many thoughts over what has happened at Virginia Tech. We all do. But to be truthful, what I said last year on Sept. 11th is as fitting today and everyday as it was then. Please read it. Today. And every day that you need to be reminded not to let fear guide your life. Every day you need reminded to contribute to the positive life force around you instead of the negative one that threatens to take over our hearts and minds.

I will be speaking to Colin about this Tragedy. But it will not be in the way that most parents might. It will not be to warn him of the crazies in the world. It will not be to tell him what to do if a mad gun man points a hand gun in his face. It will not be to tell him to be afraid of guns or to tell him guns are ok or bad or legal or not. It will not be for any of those reasons.

It will be instead to tell him the story of heros. It will to tell him how to live his life so that if given the chance, he could be a hero. No, not because I can’t wait to lose my son. But because if my son is faced with such a scenario, I hope that he has lived his life in such a way that I hope he has no fear of dying. No regrets. No fears. I want him to be the sort of man that knows what comes after this life. The kind of man that values the lives of others. That has lived every moment he has had that he doesn’t have to fear not having another. That he knows to love those in his life enough when they are standing in front of him so that when they aren’t he won’t have to worry that they won’t know how he feels. That in a moment where he has to make life and death decisions, he can make the right one with no hesitation.

I will speak to my son about living every moment the way it’s meant to be lived. No fear. No regrets. Valuing the people and the time he’s been given for all they are worth. Saying the things he needs to say. Treating people with the love and respect they deserve in case they or he are not here tomorrow.

I will speak to my son about how I feel about him. How I feel about life. How I feel about his role in my life. So that he knows if I don’t come home from work tomorrow exactly what he’s meant to me. So there is never any doubt. So that he can live his life. No regrets. No fears.

I encourage you, as you look at this situation, as you discuss it with your family to consider HOW you approach it to your children. The points you make and the ways you use this situation can change the way they look at their own life and how they approach this world.

Choose please to create hope in them. Encourage them not to walk out into this life in fear, but in courage, hope and positivity.

Change starts with them. Please make that change a good one.

My life goals as outlined on my thirtieth birthday:

1. Recognize that the keys are in God’s hands.
2. Love everyone as if it is the last moment I have with them.
3. Value life.
4. Crave experience and learning.
5. Utilize the gifts God has given me.
6. Continue to look for the good in people.
7. Give love freely and with no expectation or confinement.
8. Be responsible.
9. Be a role model
10. Be true to myself.
11. Embrace imperfections.
12. Accept friendship.

13. Wake up each day and ask myself, “What can I do today to appreciate all that God has given me? Run headfirst into this world God has set forth before me and let my children see what it truly means to live. What it truly means to love.”