I was on my way home from work when my wife called to share some good news with me.

“Alex got her Senior Yearbook today at school.  I can’t wait until you see it.  The section containing the pictures of her that we sent in along with a personal message from us turned out really well.”

“That is great!  I will look at it right when I get home.  I should be there in about 15 minutes.”

“Her Senior picture turned out well also.  Beneath it she was allowed to include her favorite quote.  Do you know what her favorite quote is?”

“She told me it once and I know I liked it but right now I can’t remember what it was” I said.

“I will show it to you when you get home.”

When I got home I went into the kitchen where my wife and mother-in-law were having a conversation.  After greeting my wife she picked up the yearbook and started looking through it to find the page that had the section we submitted.  While I was waiting my mother-in-law made the comment “I really like the comment you created for Alex’s picture.”

This confused me a little bit so I asked “What comment?”

At that point my wife stated “He hasn’t seen it yet.”

This confused me even more because my wife and I had worked together to create the write-up we wanted included with the pictures we provided.  It was a message to Alex from the both of us, not just me.  I figured that must have been what she was referring to.

My wife showed me the section and as I looked at the pictures and read through what we had written it reminded me of just how proud we are of her.  She has worked so hard over the years and has really grown into a wonderful young woman.

After reading it my wife then flipped through the pages until she found her senior picture.  She pointed to the picture so I could see it and read what was beneath it.

Dream big and live a fulfilled life while being a positive influence for others to remember. ~Willie Ryder

As I read the words I could feel my heart swell up, my eyes started to water, and I was speechless.  Her favorite quote was something that I had written several years ago.  It wasn’t a quote though.  It was my personal mission statement.  I remembered sharing it with her a few months ago while helping her with college applications.  I didn’t think she had written it down at the time though or would have remembered it.

The next morning I was driving Alex to school when she asked me “have you seen my yearbook yet?”

“Yes, your mom showed it to me yesterday.”

“What did you think?”

“I liked it a lot.  Especially where you shared something I had written under your senior picture.  It made me feel very honored and proud.  Thank you!”

“You’re welcome!  It’s one of my favorite quotes.”

“I remember sharing it with you a couple of months ago when we were working on your college applications but I don’t remember you writing it down at the time.  How did you remember it?”

“I looked at your posts on twitter.  I went through all of them, wrote down my favorite ones, narrowed it down to the one I liked the most, and this was it.”

“You pulled this from one of my twitter posts?”

“Yes.  It took a while to go through them all but I did.”

“I am amazed that you thought of going through my twitter posts and that this is what you chose.  I have only shared this on twitter a couple of times.  Do you know what these words represent?”

“No, I just thought it was a quote you had created.”

“It’s more than that.  It is my personal mission statement.  Something I created a little over five years ago and I have tried to live by ever since.”

I cannot put into words just how good it made me feel that my daughter shared my personal mission statement in her yearbook.  I had to be the proudest father in the world when I found out.  Alex is one of the most respectful, caring, and thoughtful young ladies I know.  This was just one of the many ways she has shown that over the years.

When she told me she found my mission statement from one of my twitter posts it further solidified for me something I had known for many years.  Our children are always watching what we do, listening to what we say, and learning from it.

I believe that one of our responsibilities as a parent is to try our best to set a good example for our children.  We cannot just tell them how we want them to act, how to talk, or treat others.  It is very important for us to show them and the best way to do that is by being a great role model for them.

Children are the most precious gift a person could have in their life.  As a parent you give them guidance, support, and never ending love.  And if you really want to make a positive impact on the person they will become set a great example for them to model their life after. ~Willie Ryder