Catch Me If You Can

“Good decisions come from wisdom; Wisdom comes from experience; Experience comes from making bad decisions.”

Author Unknown

Many years ago I had the opportunity to speak at and facilitate a conference where one of the most famous and recent national speakers of the day presented. The speaker’s name was Frank Abagnale. Between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one he was probably one of the century’s most cunning swindlers. Although misdirected he changed his life and eventually turned into an FBI instructor. Like many stories, this particular individual’s story was picked up and produced by Hollywood into a bestselling movie entitled, “Catch Me If You Can,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

I expected him to be a very gregarious and loud individual as a result of his portrayal on the silver screen. However, when I met the real man I was struck with how shy and humble he is. In fact, when I met him he verily looked me in the eye. I learned a lot from his presentation and his message is still today one worth listening to because as a con artist he was able to illicit trust from those he met instantly.

So let’s take a look at some of the characteristics of someone who is trustworthy.

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Raising Summer – We’re in trouble now!

Raising Summer – We’re in trouble now!

Three weeks from today I will lose a daughter and gain a son-in-law.

How many of you have a child? Have you ever looked at a child and thought they are just like their Mom or Dad? That happened to me. It hit me like a lightning bolt. The child was my daughter Summer and from the minute she was born I could read her like a book. From the minute she started mentally processing life, I could tell what she was thinking because her brain is very similar to mine.

It’s pretty scary to look at your offspring and realize uh-oh, we’re in trouble now!

One the first precocious things she did was when she was three years old and we brought home a baby brother named Logan and about the second night we were home went in to pick up Logan from the crib and she was standing on his crib and shaking it and saying “wake-up baby, wake-up.” Figured out that night, Summer, needed to be put in a different bedroom.

When she was born and through her early years we were always told that she looked like her dad. Now, I’ll let you decide.  In several ways she is like her dad, but I can still read her like a book.

Unlike me, Summer has always spoken her mind from a very young age.

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