Life Lessons - from Dad and Uncle Bern

By: Dad AKA Matt Let me set the table for this story. It was summertime and I was 15 years old. Since I couldn’t drive yet, my main mode of transportation was my bike. It was a pretty standard mountain bike, which could get me to and from the nearest town, about 5 miles away. I spent everyday that summer going somewhere on that bike with my friends. One Friday, my dad got home from work and said to call Joel and Bum (my friends that lived nearby) to come spend the night and bring their bikes. I asked what he had in mind and he just smiled, saying “you’ll see”. The only other information he would divulge was that they should bring some spending money and not to make any other plans for Saturday. That morning, my dad woke us up early to get started. He still wouldn’t tell us where we were going or how far the ride would be, just insisted that we were going on an adventure. Shrugging our shoulders, we mounted up. We had learned a long time ago not to question him. The ride started o

By: Matt AKA Dad Accountability partner: any person that holds you to a high standard and will assist you in reaching your full potential. My dad, also known as Opa to my sons, was my first accountability partner.  The earliest example I can remember was when I was in 5th grade. We were on our way home from football practice and he was asking me how it went, if it was hard, if I was tired, etc. As I was in the middle of telling him that it was easy and I wasn’t tired, I noticed his truck slowing down. This wouldn’t seem unusual if we were pulling into our driveway, but we were still a mile from home! He said  “If you’re not too tired, let’s see if you can make it home before I get dinner warmed up”, so I climbed out with my football gear still on, and he pulled away! With the sun setting behind me, I began to run, determined to beat him before our food was ready. Thus began a ritual that continued for the next several years. By the time I was in 9th grade, I was asking him to drop

By: Zack AKA Uncle Bernie The word luck was thrown around a lot between my brother and I when we were growing up. I remember that he would eat “lucky” noodles  (Ramen)  before soccer games to help him score goals.  At a middle  school  dance,   I  was too intimidated to  ask my date to dance with me on the last  song , so she was asked by someone else and accepted. I  therefore  bid myself “unlucky .” There was a lot of this going on   back and  forth,  so  my Dad was  taking notes and ready to squash  all  of  this.  Suddenly one  day he had a new mant r a  that he sprung on us  that he still repeats to  this day , “HA! I’m the luckiest guy in the world.   I create my own luck by working hard er than everyone else. The harder I work, the luckier I am!” Consequently, the volume of our   “ work hard ”  culture at home  got turned up to max on the stereo. This  list  is a r eminder for myself  to remember where I came from  and to guide  future generations  of my family .  T

The words “legend” and “epic” are thrown around a little too easily these days, in my opinion. However, the stories of Tim Snyder AKA Timbo really are the stuff of legend. We all know someone larger than life. It can be a coach, a cousin, family friend, even a parent. Timbo was one of those people for me. He was a big guy, both literally and figuratively. Combine that with his often gruff demeanor and he was intimidating to me when I was young. Timbo was always at our house. The fact that we lived near his favorite hunting spot played a major role in that, along with him being my father’s best friend. Timbo’s love of hunting went beyond the typical person’s “thrill of the hunt” desire. The forest was like his fortress of solitude, where he went to escape. It wasn’t uncommon for me to wake up on a Saturday morning and see his ugly Chevette already in our driveway and for it to still be there when I was getting ready for bed. His dedication to the sport of deer hunting didn’t always ex