There are many parents that fear the teenage years. That fear may be merited because these are the years that the relationship between the kid and the family is being redefined. The importance of friends rises for them, while the parents and siblings fall. The fruit of your labor is not as easily seen as it used to be. In some cases, it may even seem like your influence is outright rejected. If so, hang in there.
A friend of mine used to work with teenagers which is where he met a quiet freshman named Kevin. Kevin started dating Allie when they were just fourteen. Four years later, they were still dating when my friend asked Kevin, who had just graduated, to help him lead a cabin of guys for a week at summer camp. Every single day, while he was away at camp, Kevin wrote Allie a letter. His level of devotion and thoughtfulness was amazing. The fact that he exercised that level of maturity at age eighteen made it even more amazing. Kevin and Allie continued to date through college and beyond. Today they have been married for seven years and have three kids. Kevin continues to consistently show the characteristics of a man who loves his wife in the same way he did when they were high school sweethearts.
This is one of my favorite All Pro Dad articles written by BJ Foster, All Pro Dad’s Director of Content.
At the beginning of 1848, a carpenter named James Marshall was working on building a sawmill near Sacramento, California when he found gold. Although he and his employer tried to keep the discovery quiet, news started to spread. Sam Brannan, a shop owner in nearby San Francisco, looked to cash in, not by mining but by selling equipment to prospectors. He initially announced the great gold hope in the streets and then he sent publications east. Initial reports around the country were greeted by skepticism. But, in December, President Polk confirmed the abundance of gold in California. By 1849, the rush was on. The hope-filled prospectors looking to strike it rich became known as “The 49ers”. Unfortunately, some thought they struck it rich only to find out that the shiny, gold substance was only pyrite. It is otherwise known as “fool’s gold”. While gold is both soft and nearly indestructible, pyrite is brittle and breaks apart easily. Another way to tell the difference is during panning; pyrite is lighter and will easily move around the pan with the water while gold will normally stay in the same place