Ask Dad, he knows.

How much affect does something a father says have on his children? How long will those words be remembered? Will they reinforce and define the child? Most words are forgotten and the parent is remembered for being loving, encouraging and supportive. Oftentimes the dad is remembered for not being there or not saying what should have been said. Let’s see how Cal Ripken Jr. remembers his father. Cal Ripken Jr. played baseball for the Baltimore Orioles from 1981 to 2001. He had 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, 1,695 RBIs, 19 All-Star appearances, 2 AL MVPs, 2 Gold Gloves, 8 Silver Sluggers, 1 World Series Championship and he is known as the Iron Man for his streak of 2,632 consecutive games played. This Hall of Fame baseball player is a son of Maryland. He grew up in Aberdeen, MD while his father, Cal Sr., was a professional baseball player. His father and mother, Violet, shaped him to be the man he is. Notably, Ripken enjoys cooking. His mother wanted to make sure the young baseb

A dad must provide. A dad must protect. Perhaps two of the more common answers when the question “What does a dad have to do?” is asked. Other answers are that a dad has to: educate, set examples of good behavior, create good emotional relationships with his children and just be there. All of these are great answers and are essential to the calling of fatherhood that many men respond to but I think there is something more essential and to the core of being a dad that these answers hint at. The first thing a dad has to do is to love. The simplest way to summarize what dads must do is to say they must love. All other roles are subordinate to this one but they are also a fulfillment of love. Providing, protecting, teaching, inspiring, developing, educating, instilling value are all crucial things a dad does – expect individual blogs over the course of the next year on each one of these. All of those are things a dad does and therefore are a manifestation of dad’s love. The usua

Georg von Trapp Today we look at the dad who is played by Christopher Plummer, and who seems reluctant to sing and dance while his children do it so well as Julie Andrews coaches them along. Well, it turns out there is more to this man than the musical shows us and he really lived quite an interesting life. It’s worth diving into and seeing how Captain von Trapp was as a man and a dad. Georg von Trapp was born April 4 th , 1880 in modern day Zadar, Croatia. His father, who was in the Austro-Hungarian navy was Fregattenkapitan August Trapp and his mother was Hedwig Trapp. Fregattenkapitan is a naval equivalent to the U.S. rank of Commander. Georg would follow in his father’s footsteps up to the rank of Korvettenkapitan which is equivalent to the U.S. rank of Lieutenant Commander. Zadar, Croatia - Georg's birthplace   After graduating from the Austro-Hungarian naval academy in 1898 Georg went on a two year follow-on voyage which took him to Australia. On his ret