Say Thanks
I've done a lot of things in my career. Copywriter, Creative Director (all the steps in between), Director, production company owner, boutique agency owner, interactive creative director, photographer -- and that's just the stuff I've been paid to do. I get really analytical about how the web works, and I write and talk about it. Occasionally, people listen. Sometimes they ask questions. I love questions, because whether I can answer or not doesn't matter -- it always takes the conversation somewhere interesting, and I usually learn more. If the conversation gets interesting enough, I'll rely on my experience doing all the above stuff for perspective and examples. And that sometimes leads to another set of questions about me, which usually centers around something like, with all the different types of experience I have -- why do I do what I do?
There are intellectual reasons (I dig the web and all its potential), business reasons (it's truly still in its infancy, and promises serious growth), and lots of others, including the simple fact that I really like it. But ultimately, there's one reason I do anything at all (at least, anything at all for a living), and that's to support my family. They're the only reason I need, want, or have to get up in the morning, and go do what I do.
My kids are cool. They're smart, funny, and fun to be around. They take whatever they do to as high a level as they're capable -- whether it's ballet, lacrosse, soccer, hockey, art, Chinese, helping around the house, or yes, fighting with each other. They give it their all. Which is all you can ask of anyone. I'm completely proud of my kids, and being their dad is the coolest gig I've ever had. I'm honored to be able to go to work to support them.
But you see, my kids wouldn't be who they are without the most influential person in their lives. And while I'm relatively influential (or, at least, I'd like to think so) I pale in comparison to the person who has truly taught them to be the kind of people they're turning out to be: their Mom.
My wife, their Mom, is the uber-Mom. Not just for the way she carts them to all the activities listed above (and that's an abridged list), nor for the way she obsesses about their education, their health, their growth as individuals, their ultimate happiness as humans, and the fact that they haven't eaten their vegetables. Not for just that. And for all of that. But more than that, it's for the way she loves this family. It's crystal clear to me, and the kids, and to anyone who knows any of the Mostellers of Alexandria that Sarah is the thing that truly makes this family what it is.
Moms are like that, you know.
I thought I knew, before I was married to a Mom. But I didn't really know. Now I do. And being married to a Mom has made me think about all the stuff my own Mom did to help make me into who I am. She did a lot. A helluva lot. And I'm really, really thankful she did.
So forgive me if I'm not obsessed today about how agencies just aren't getting the whole digital thing just right just yet. (I will be again, because they're not.) But today, I'm thinking more about two incredibly special Moms. The one who raised me, and the one I'm married to. Today is their day.
I'd just like to say, "Thanks."
Call your mom today. You should say it, too.
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Advertising Marketing Creative Interactive Online Marketing Design Digital Design Blattner Brunner Ernie Mosteller BB Digital
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