Seventeen years ago, I daydreamed about what my daughter’s life would be like. As we anticipated her birth, I would think about what she would accomplish in life. I generally focused on what sport she would pick and how she would set the world on fire.

After watching her take part in the York County Encore Awards – an annual competition for the high school musicals across the county – I am so glad none of that came true.

I’m not bashing sports. I love sports and probably spend way too much time thinking about them and watching them on TV. I just see how happy the path she has taken makes her.

My wife and I have made some amazing friends along the way, people who I am sure will be part of our lives forever. I have watched their kids accomplish amazing things along with my daughter.

I am a sap so I spend days like the Encore performance pretending Ihave something in my eye as I watch amazing young adults control the emotions of an entire theatre. I never saw that when I daydreamed 17 years ago, but it’s better than anything I could have ever imagined.