Letters from Daddy 1/15/12

{Letters from Daddy are a series of letters from expectant father to son, on what it means to be a man.}

Dear Chili,

2012 is gearing up to be the most amazing of my life. Perhaps it’s fitting that the year you are to be born is “The Year of the Dragon”.  Even more interesting is the paranoia surrounding the “end” of the Mayan calendar this year.  Some easily suggestible folks believe the world might end this year, but do not count me among them.  2012 is the year the world BEGINS for you; it is the year you are unleashed upon this world, to represent the Taney name and tradition.  You come from a long line of John Charles Taneys, and you have the potential to be best of us.  There is one rule I’d beg you to follow through all the ups and downs in your life.  One rule that will help you appreciate your accomplishments; one rule that will pick you up when adversity strikes; one rule that can unlock the power within you.  If you follow this rule, there’s nothing in this world you can’t accomplish…

The rule: BE YOURSELF.

I love you.

Daddy