Seacoast Law & Title

During high school when my father and I would have an argument, he would always end our fight with the classic line: "Someday you will appreciate us and know we made the right decisions for you." I hated those words, mostly because at sixteen whenever your parents won't let you do something it's unfair. It's unfair if your father won't let you go to a party just because the parents won't be home or because there are older kids there. It's unfair if your father doesn't let you go out with friends until all your homework is done. It's unfair to be pushed and pushed to be as successful as possible in school. After every argument I would hear that someday I would look back and know that he was right. That was the point at which I would roll my eyes and storm off to my room, slamming my door as loud as I could to make a point.

It has been ten years since I was in high school, and guess what? He was right.

My father was the one who encouraged me to apply to law school after graduating and returning home from college. My father was the one who would drop off a couple bags of groceries to my apartment during finals week while studying for my exams. My father was the one who pushed me to keep studying despite the fact that my son was born three months early right smack in the middle of studying for the bar exam last summer.

Last summer my father told me that the greatest gift I could give my baby was to take the bar exam, despite him still being in the NICU, so that when he came home healthy I could be there for him completely.

Now, when I think of how I want to raise my son I am slowly realizing that if I do exactly what my parents did, he will turn out to be a pretty amazing man someday. He will learn the value of being successful based on the effort he exerts. He will learn how important it is to be honest, trustworthy and true to himself and his own values, even if it means he won't be going to the party he desperately wants to go to because Mom and Dad say no.

So now I say, thank you Dad. Thank you for never accepting my excuses as to why I couldn't do something. Thank you for giving me boundaries and rules to live by so that I didn't grow up faster than I needed to. Thank you for pushing me to achieve everything and anything I could imagine. Thank you for being you. Happy Father's Day.

Shannon Esty is a lawyer at Seacoast Law & Title in Westbrook practicing real estate law and estate planning.