Time to Start Living Vicariously

In less than two weeks, I will take a trip to Reno, Nevada, to bowl in the USBC Open Championship, where if all goes well, I will win back a portion of my $180 entry fee, to help take the sting out of a $1000 extended weekend.

I've been told by friends and family that I have a wide array of talents, bowling being one of them.  I don't think I'll sound too lacking in humility to say that they are, to some degree, correct.

I am "good" at a lot of things.  I'm "great" at nothing.

My family, on the other hand, is loaded with talent. My older sister the valedictorian and musician, my younger one the actress.  Real life got in the way of their dreams, but they have more talent than I could hope to.

I also have five talented children.  My son the rock drummer and aspiring producer. My daughter, who is already hearing from Ivy League schools in her sophomore year in high school.  My other daughter the dancer. My younger sons, who are already showing the gifts that their older siblings have.

I have a cousin who is an amazing freehand artist, his brother a former pro ballplayer and three-sport star, their father the former pro football player and current German League champion coach. I have another cousin who owns multiple patents, and currently markets an amazing hunting product (deer attractant), which has allowed him to do such things as hunt with Ted Nugent. (He can jam at the guitar nearly as good as Ted as well.)

It's a little depressing to know that you're too old for your dreams of yesteryear.  My remedy will be to create new dreams.  And to live vicariously. Anyway...

Not the least of my talented family members are my parents, both doctorates and both having risen to the highest levels of their chosen professions.

Even at the second cousin level, I have one who is a D-1 college golfer. I have a first cousin, once-removed, who is a D-1 hockey player.  (Oh, and before I forget, my wife was a D-1 swimmer.)

And lastly, but not leastly, I have another first cousin, once-removed, who is presently at the doorstep of bona fide stardom.  She started just from a desire to learn songs, some four years ago.  Now age 13, she's won talent shows, including the Minnesota State Fair pre-teen finals, and has developed quite a following on the Internet.

Below is a link to her recent release; written and recorded at the age of 12. That's not a typo.

I hope to share more of my talented family in future posts. I said "lastly" above, but there are some I didn't even mention.  It's precisely this breadth of talented family that allows me to say that I am indeed good at many things, yet without feeling braggadocious about it.  With the level of talent I'm surrounded by daily, saying I'm merely "good" at something is basically admitting inferiority.

(I'll still shamelessly brag about my kids, however.)

Enjoy.

Josie Nelson - Never Again