Big George is gone.

Born on july 4th, 1930 he was bigger than your life, and the real Yankee Doodle Dandy, to be sure.

He’ll be long remembered.

My favorite corollary quote of his:

“I haven’t always done a good job, and I haven’t always been successful,” Steinbrenner said in 2005. “But I know that I have tried.”

I feel George lived an Authentic Life.

Peace be to my Bothers and sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

As “they” say: “you’re only as happy as your most unhappy kid”.

My little Emma Jo is learning how to use email. She has her own .me (Apple) account, and is rather focused and demanding when it comes to protocol. For example, I will likely receive a call on my cellular telephone this afternoon from a potentially irate Emma Jo minutes after she launches a communique:

“Daddy, I sent you an email how come you didnot send me one?”

However, this will certainly present itself with an opportunity and an invitation out for ice cream at Bruesters, some hand-holding and possibly roller skating. So, mine is the advantage, to be sure.

As many of you know, Haley Anne is embroiled in a revolution, of sorts, at her Middle school. She was also recently named as a captain on her soccer team. Additional strain on her emerging thirteen year old psyche includes a titanic effort to improve her grades (especially math and social studies) in order to qualify for a new cellular telephone (the current model apparently is not feature rich enough). All this while her heart is breaking over the broken relationship with her erstwhile best friend:

“Daddy I didn’t think she could be so mean!”

[…just wait my love. There is so much grand adventure, promise and heartbreak ahead. And, I want to be there, just off of your shoulder, every step of the way.]

Every earthly father must see the visage of an angel in the face(s) of our beloved (oh, unyielding cherish!) daughters. They can never represent anything but the best that life can promise – all the while inspiring unseemly fear in our hearts around events uncertain. I must trust that my role in Haley Anne and Emma Jo’s lives will offer it’s lasting impressions. And, I can trust their judgment (Haley Anne’s, anyway with Emma Jo only seven). I have only the requirement that holds me true to my own course – and ever vigilant reminder to reflect and represent and lead, some how, by example.

Stay tuned.

I love being a Dad.

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

If you can’t trust, then you probably can’t be trusted yourself.

I am certain that other people have used these words in different combinations.

But, I am often reminded that this maxim is real.

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

We all grew up with certain catch phrases, terms or quotes making a lasting impression in our lives.

Here are some examples of things that people that have played pivotal roles in my own life have said and, as a direct result, changed me, and the course of my life, in a meaningful way…

1. “You could drop Brian into a Nebraska corn field and two weeks later he would own the farm.”
Who said it: Clifford Cork, Sr. My Grandfather.

2. “It’s what you don’t see that will always kill you.”
Who said it: Gunnery Sergeant Tilson, United States Army Rangers

3. “As I get older my Dad gets smarter.”
Who said it: Lots of dudes.

4. “Follow your dreams and be true to your friends.”
Who said it: David Sugarman, one of my best mentors.

5. “Be part of the solution, not the problem.”
Who said it: Chuck Schmidt, Battalion Chief with Lousiville Volunteer Fire Department.

6. “Happy wife, Happy Life.”
Who said it: Clifford Cork, Sr. and Sonny Newton at Chick-fil-A

7. “Just be a Love Kat.”
Who said it: Tim Sanders

8. “If you are going to give someone a ‘piece of your mind’, make sure it goes with a chunk of your heart.”
Who said it: Brian Patrick Cork

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork