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This weeks guest-posts are all brought to you courtesy of my Dad.

The most satisfying thing in ones life is witnessing your children succeed. Success can be measured in many ways but sometimes comes in unexpected and pleasantly surprising ways. The pride you feel can come in the form your child?s achievements, whether your child grows up to be a doctor, lawyer ? or a successful computer professional. Other kinds of pride aren?t in achievements so much as life-changing decisions. Finding the right partner, settling down, buying a home are each themselves a source of pride for a parent. And with each new reason I have to be exceptionally proud of Adam, I remember when it all started. It was the day he learned to fly. Adam was probably two years old. I don?t remember exactly when or where this happened. Fortunately, at the time Kitty and I were able to witness this and could share our great pride with each other. We looked at each other and our eyes both kind of misted. We were watching our son begin a life we could only dream of. At first we weren?t sure what he was doing. He was lost in his own moment and wasn?t paying any attention to us, so we just sat and enjoyed this ? hoping we wouldn?t do anything to distract him and end this perfect event. The first several attempts met with failure but he kept on trying. I think he tried a running start once or twice and seemed to decide it would be better to stand still and lift off from both feet. It?s hard to know what?s train of thought is going on in the mind of someone else, much less a two year old. We watched for about 15 minutes when Adam paused, studied his stance, took a practice swing and then lifted off the ground! He was excited and very pleased with himself. He still didn?t know Kitty and I were watching. Seeing someone feel pride in learning a new skill on their own is yet another source of pride for a parent ? at least for me it is. He tried again and again and found that, not only could he repeat this amazing trick, but it was getting easier each time. He spent the next hour jumping up and down, jumping off chairs and whatever else he could sail off of. And I remember clearly thinking at that time ? it was something he wanted for himself, and by himself my son had learned to fly.