I love water. This love of water has shaped the direction of my life.
I first water skied when I was 7 years old, though it is pretty hard to believe that experience was the beginning of a life long passion. I still clearly remember the pull of the rope starting to bring me out of the water and my immediate launch out the front of the skis. At which point a smarter child would have let go of the handle, whereas I kept my hands glued to that handle and plowed through the water for at least 100 feet until my father figured out there weren’t any skis attached to the ball of spray behind that boat.
Even with that less than stellar first experience I grew to love water skiing and when I was 13 I joined the local Water Ski Show team. I learned to barefoot, jump, be in pyramids and pretty much everything else which happens behind a boat.
Beside forming life long friendships, this was also the main place I learned about working in a team and how to lead. In multiple seasons I took on the role of show director: responsible for planning and practicing our ski shows. This meant organizing 50-60 skiers, boat drivers and other team members ranging in age from 5 years old up their grandparents. For a few seasons I even picked up the mic as the show announcer.
I eventually purchased my first ski boat and began time on the water without putting on a show. And I knew I had the beginning of something the first night I met my to-be wife when she agreed to meet me and a friend early the next morning because we needed a third person to ski with.
Ten years after meeting, our first daughter Kaia was born and we were as committed to lake life as ever. Enough so that we made the huge financial commitment of purchasing a lake home. Now with two daughters we get to share our love of being on the water with them and teaching those two my passion has been one of the most fulfilling parts of being a father. Each of them learned at the age of four and both of them are amazingly talented and on their way to quickly surpassing the skills of their parents.
