Happiness is Watching Your Child Succeed, Part 3

My eldest child, Kelly (a regular reader of this blog), has been bugging me since I started it, asking, “when are you gonna write a column about ME?”  For a long time I put her off by pointing out that this is my professional blog, not personal.  Well, since I recently wrote about BOTH of her brothers, I clearly can’t use that excuse any more.  So to keep peace in the family   I will write today’s post about her.

This is Kelly Smith Gibson.  After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, she attended med school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.  She married a wonderful young man from Seattle in December 2007 in a ceremony that took place in the Basilica at the Notre Dame campus, which is where they met.

Today, she and Paul live nearby and Kelly is a first-year resident in an OB/Gyn program that is run jointly by Metro General Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic.  She delivers babies.  Lots of babies.  A lot of the babies she delivers are born to moms in high-risk pregnancy situations, like those who are very young, very old, and those who have diabetes or other complicating health conditions.  Metro boasts one of the finest high-risk pregnancy units in the country, and I know that Kelly is very proud to be a part of the team there.

Not all is a bed of roses for Kelly.  Students who graduate from Med School in the United States carry a huge debt load.  I get nosebleeds just thinking about how much money she owes in student loans.  Residents work 80-90 hours a week – including a LOT of nights and 24-hour weekend shifts — for not a lot of money.  And she has to study constantly – huge big textbooks and journals and new research into exciting topics like female cancers and rates of morbidity for high-risk pregnancies, and so on.  And hubby Paul just got laid off from his job last week as an Actuarial Analyst for a consulting firm.  And the liability insurance premiums for Obstetricians is a scary number – OB’s have to deliver a ton of babies each year just to pay for their insurance.

AND she and Paul are a very happy and engaging couple whom my wife and feel blessed to count as our friends.

So, Kelly, this is your blog post.  Now the whole world (of my subscribers, anyway) know what a great person you are and how proud I am of you and your accomplishments.

Can we be done, now?

And NO, I’m not writing a post about your dog.

Happiness is Watching Your Child Succeed, Part 2

I am so excited!  My oldest son got engaged last weekend to a wonderful young woman who makes him very happy.

In the improbable manner of the world, Justin (from Cleveland) met Katie (from

Pittsburgh) while they were attending a Second City Improv workshop (in Chicago) two summers ago.  Apparently it was love at first sight.

Justin moved to Nashville to be near Katie for her last year of college, and it’s been great fun to watch their relationship mature.  This child of ours lives a great deal of his life in an Improvisational mode – making it up as he goes along.  Katie is graduating this month from Belmont University in Nashville as a Theatre major, and her dream is to land a spot on Saturday Night Live as an Improv artist.  Thus, she makes a perfect match for Justin.

I loved watching this all from the sidelines, noticing that Romance is far from dead in this turbulent world.  Justin honored the tradition of asking Katie’s parents for their blessing.  He then made them co-conspirators in his plan when they sent him a gold cuff link that was momento from Katie’s beloved grandfather.  Justin had the diamond in that cuff link turned into a one-of-a-kind Claddagh ring (see photo).

Then he planned a trip with Katie and plotted with friends to arrange for music, sparklers, and videotaping of the proposal, which happened when they “coincidentally” made their way down the same Chicago street where they’d had their first kiss.

In the manner of Millennials, the engagement was first announced on Katie’s Facebook page, of course!

We’re looking forward to a very happy event in the summer of 2010.  J

Happiness is Seeing Your Child Succeed

Last week I was privileged to attend Kent State University’s annual Student Awards night.  At this event the university recognizes the accomplishments of its many student leaders and student organizations; it also serves as the transition point for all Undergraduate Student Government (USG) positions.

During the past school year our youngest son, Jared, was a Student Senator in addition to serving as president of the largest fraternity on campus, Sigma Chi.  He will serve as one of the six elected USG Directors for the 2009/10 term.  We drove down to see him recognized for his contributions and then sworn in to his new role.

We sat at a table with many of Jared’s fraternity brothers and were delighted to see the quality of character so many of them possess.  These young men, some about to graduate in a few weeks, represent the next generation of leadership for our country. I feel inspired when in the presence of their energy and determination to succeed and create change.

I was pleasantly surprised, as I scanned the evening’s program, to see many of these young men’s names on the list of nominees for several awards.  I was proud to bursting as I realized that Jared’s name was listed for seven out of twelve possible leadership awards, in addition to his USG recognition.

Jared went up on stage several times during the evening to receive recognition for his contribution and accomplishments.  The awards he was nominated for acknowledge leadership, scholarship, commitment to the university, contribution to the community, and so on.  These are all admirable qualities in any young person, and even more fun to watch when that young person is my own child.

I was a proud and happy Dad, for sure!