I grew up in NJ and was a Football and Track guy. As a freshman, I broke the county record for freshman in the 400M and took Gold in the 100, 200, & 400 that day. Literally out of nowhere. Something clicked.

Fast forward to winter of the next season (indoor season), things were going great and we made it to the finals of the 4x400 at the State Championships hosted at the time by Princeton U. As many of you know, indoor tracks are generally 200 meters so each leg runs two laps in this event.

I ran with 3 other seniors of whom 2 would go on to earn Div I scholarships. Our team was no joke!

I led off the race. As leg one in the relay, I had to stay in lane for the first lap then all competitors merge in for the remainder of the race. The good news is, we won breaking a long standing Group III / school record. The bad news is, I cut in too soon and our team got disqualified.

Three seniors and their last hurrah deleted because of me! The whole bus ride home, no one spoke a single word to me. Not even my coach.

The next day at practice, one of them, during warmups, elbowed me in my back HARD. "Don't ever do that shit again MFer!"

I was sick. I went home sulking and had a talk with my dad. I told him, "I'm thinking about quitting."

My dad was a very mellow guy and didn't push me to do sports. But, he loved it and came to all my games/events. But when I told him I wanted to quit track, he got as visibly disappointed as I've ever seen him.

He said, "NO FUCKING WAY. Son, if you don't want to run next season, that's fine. But you started this season, and you will finish the season."

I was so pissed. But I went back. And soon after States, we started the outdoor season. A few months later, we went on to win Outdoor State Championship as a team, 3 individual golds (not me), and we won the 4x400 of which I was privileged to take part in. The closeness of that team after we won has remained with us decades later. I wouldn't have been a part of that if my dad had let me quit like many parents do. "Do what you want son" would've been the worst thing to happen to me.

That moment made me a better teammate, leader, entrepreneur, and man moving forward in life.

All that to say, THANK YOU DAD FOR NOT RAISING A COWARD AND A QUITTER. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY IN HEAVEN