Justin Zachary Thorp: He's my son and I'm proud of him
May 30, 2006
I worked hard to choke back the tears this weekend as my son, Justin, graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. I am really proud of him and who he is and what he has done.
In my eyes, he has become a man of distinction. He's ready for the next chapter in life and he will be a player at whatever he does.
As I sat in the Gordon Field House on the RIT campus, I thought back to all the things we had done together from the time he was a baby to now:
- Promise Keepers--we've been to 11 PK events together, including Stand In The Gap in Washington D.C. It has been a time where we both could refocus on the right stuff, our personal relationship with Jesus Christ and we could talk about anything.
- Learning to play golf--we took lessons together and then we started to regularly play on all kinds of courses. Great times to talk and to listen.
- Drinking coffee--it started at Meijers on Lake Lansing Road when coffee drinks were just starting to make a debut in mid-Michigan and continued on to favorite coffee shops, including Starbucks and Beaners. No topic was off limits, but conversation usually centered around politics and computers.
- Watching television--we always had certain programs that we would invariably watch together, including the reality show about Ozzie Osbourne and his family. Oh and there was Frasier which didn't always display family values, but we talked about that.
- Hundreds of IM conversations--while he was in school, we talked just about everday, even if it was just a couple of minutes.
I love being a father and I love being Justin's father. I think he already knows this, but again, I am really proud of him. He has been and will continue to be a blessing to my wife and me and to the world around him.
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