A Father’s Look Back
A Family Memoir 2010-2019
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Dear Family, June 17, 2012 Happy Father’s Day! This was a wonderful day which started off with cards and gifts from the kids and Sonja. I received a Frisbee (lights up at night) and a book titled The 10 Best Decisions A Man Can Make, by Bill Farrel. The notes from the kids were quite special so I included them below. Ben wrote, “You are the best camper in the world and the best dad in the world. You are kind and gentle. Thank you for being my dad.” He also included a few coupons good for things like, “One night of camping with just the two of us”, “One day of being an angel”, and “Two days of not playing electronics.” Charis wrote, “How did Mom find a teacher that doesn’t use sick days, the perfect camper, and the perfect father and husband … by marrying you! You are a great dad, a great teacher, and an awesome person.” She also included the following coupons: “Bike ride”, “Clean my room”, “Grade my school papers”, “Make you a sundae”. Daniel wrote, “Hardworking – you love your job and are devoted to spending as much time as needed to be the best teacher you can be. Great Coach – it takes a lot of effort to coach two championship baseball teams, and it takes a special type of person too. Responsible – I have no doubt at all that our finances and house are in good hands. Caring – You always love spending time with us and care for us.” Nate wrote, “I appreciate how I have never heard you swear. That means a lot to me. I can look at you and see how I should act. If I am ever unsure of how a Christian man would look at a problem or do something, I can look at you for the answer. I don’t even have to ask you because your actions speak for you. I try to do what I see you do. I hope that one day I will be able to say to my kids, “Your grandfather is the greatest man in my life, and I will consider it a job well done if I am able to teach them half as much as he taught me about how to be a follower of Christ in this sinful world we live in. You have and will continue to teach me so many things about how a man should behave. I hope to model all that you have shown me. Thank you for being a God-fearing man. I love you.” WOW! What a gift! Who needs presents?! A man can live an extra year hearing words like that! I also had the kids open another gift I wrapped myself. I first asked them, “Who in our family do you think is most likely to become an author?” The three youngest immediately pointed to Nate so I let him open the gift for me. It was a copy of my newly published book, A Father’s Look Back: A Family Memoir. The kids were very excited and surprised. The book is a collection of the first 10 years of my family updates (2000-2009). I asked Author House to restrict distribution so that all orders come through me. I had no interest in marketing the book and only really wanted it for my own family and close friends. Again a special thanks goes to my good friend, Chris Bass, who gifted me with a publishing package so that I could do this without any expense! We had another exciting week of baseball. Daniel and Ben both won their playoff games to advance to Monday’s championship game. Daniel’s team won a thriller 4-3 in extra innings. Daniel had two hits and scored two runs, including the tying run in the 8th inning. Ben’s game was just as thrilling. Going into the last inning with a 6-3 lead the other team cut the lead to 6-5, had the bases loaded with two outs, and our pitcher caught a screaming line drive to end the game. Unfortunately, both boys play their championship game at the same time so I will miss most of Daniel’s game since I am the pitcher for Ben’s team. On Wednesday evening, Sonja and I had the immense pleasure of taking Daniel on a date for his 8th grade Graduation Dinner. He loves seafood and meat so we ate at Formosa Seafood Buffet. Not a vegetable appeared on his plate during his 3 or 4 trips to the food bar but he thoroughly enjoyed the wide variety of meats. Below, I have included the letters that Sonja and I wrote to him to commemorate this special occasion. Nate spent the week at Myrtle Beach with Student Venture’s summer conference. He returned home on Friday afternoon completely exhausted but he thoroughly enjoyed his time. He had morning sessions on Christian Worldview and evening sessions on a variety of topics like Relationships, New Life in Christ, Joy of Obedience, New Mission and A Spirit-filled Life. He had time at the beach (including an outreach project and mock battle), ate lots of good food, and really enjoyed his chat room discussions with leader Mark Michal, and classmates Josh and Mitch. I am sure he would love to talk to anyone who wants more details on how this impacted his life. During the past few weeks I have been meeting with and/or talking on the phone with friends of mine who are a stage ahead of me in raising teenage boys. My primary question has focused on the topic of dating, hoping to learn something from their wise counsel. I have spoken with Mark Crull, Chris Zaugg, Nick Taylor, and Greg Beaverson. It has been very refreshing to reconnect with these men. I still have a few more contacts to make and then I plan to meet with Nate and Daniel and share my thoughts. I will include more information in a future update.
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About the Book
What began as a writing challenge to my students 20 years ago has now become a routine part of my life. I still cherish the time when I can sequester myself away in my bedroom on Sunday afternoons to pause, reflect and write about Greiwe family life over the past week. I call these my weekly family updates. What you now hold in your hands is my second volume of 10 more years of these weekly updates, providing a glimpse of what it’s like to raise a family during this time in history. After publishing my first 10-year volume of weekly Greiwe family updates in 2012, I realized that writing these updates had been so therapeutic that I did not want to stop. Plus, watching the reaction of family members as they took time to read through the book and relive those experiences was priceless. Thus, when asked, “Are you going to keep writing these?”, my response was simple, “Absolutely!” Even though the stories in this book are not an exact representation of Greiwe family life, they are true and they provide readers with a peek into our daily life. As the children have grown older, I have tried to be more careful about finding the balance between transparency and privacy, tending to err on the side of protecting a person’s privacy by not purposely embarrassing them in the stories I choose to write. As in my previous book, I continue to focus as much as I can on positive aspects of our family life, which are the parts we like to remember most, anyway. My hope is that both volumes become a source of joy and laughter for many generations of Greiwes to come.
About the Author
As a husband of 27 years, an elementary school teacher of 26 years, and a father of 25 years, David Greiwe has no shortage of material to write about when trying to capture the essence of Greiwe family life. David published his first book in 2012, A Father’s Look Back: A Family Memoir 2000-2009, and he is currently working on another manuscript of his personal life history. Actively involved in his community of Fishers, IN as a teacher, coach, volunteer, husband and parent, David also finds time to enjoy reading, writing, hiking, camping, biking, playing games (the old-fashioned card and board games), church activities and homemade pie.