挫折难免，如何面对、思考和行动才是能否成长的关键。父母在其中又是何种角色？
Happy Birthday, Dad!
From Austin
I can’t express how proud I am to have you as a father. For your birthday card, I could write about the obvious, how hard you have fought this year to return to a normal life, but I won’t. Instead, I want to remind you of a smaller incident that I’m not sure you remember, when I didn’t get the Robertson scholarship and you drove to where I was to comfort me. That night three years ago, you taught me a couple of things.
First you taught me that life is a series of many, and not just one obstacle. Yes, some obstacles may be so big that in dealing with them, we forget, momentarily, about the others. We start to think that, if I can just move past this one mountain, life will be easy from here on out. But those who do that lose sight of the bigger picture. You taught me to fight with persistence, but without forgetting that it’s just part of a process. Life is a long road, and being defeated by just one hump in the road is no way to sustainably succeed.
Second, you taught me that success isn’t the same as growth. People can win awards and climb to new highs, but that doesn’t mean that they are maturing as a person. Yes, I failed, but I shoudn’t shove that failure into the past, but learn from it. By encouraging me to stay in touch with the Robertson staff members to continually ask for their mentorship and advice on how to improve, you taught me that failure is no shame; it’s just a learning experience that will mold me and better equip me for similar challenges in the future.
Finally, you taught me what good parenting looks like. I have known friends with parents who are not half as gracious, who are not half as good at accepting when their child cannot accomplish something. But are their children better for it? No; all that they have learned is to fear their parents, and fear is never as good a motivator as respect. And that word exactly encapsulates what I felt that night: respect for how you so graciously accepted that I couldn’t grab something that would have saved you hundreds of thousands in college expenses. You taught me that a good father doesn’t make getting the prize as the ultimate objective, but rather the act of learning from the process, irrespective of victory or failure. You taught me that a good father senses when his son is weak, and figures out a way to build on that weakness instead of adding to it. You taught me that a good father understands the big picture, and knows how to integrate even failure into a longterm lesson plan on how to build a child into a man.
I learned a lot from you that night, and I came to understand and appreciate the sort of drive that must have built you into the father that I know today. I thank you for your many lessons, and have carried them with me always, through the toughest points of college. Happy Birthday, dad, and I hope this year is filled with the prosperity and good health that you deserve.
Your son,
Austin
注：配图是朋友创意，美味cheese cake！
Feedback from the dad:
A birthday note from my son -Austin. Nothing can make a dad happier than seeing my boy growing into a young man, a young man with kind heart, sound judgement, positive attitude towards challenges in life and persistence to achieve his own goals in lifetime. I love you, Austin, my big boy! (All credits are directed to his mother!)
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I’m in tears！His father is a role model in teaching his son about learning from failures and building on obstacles instead of adding to weaknesses.
感动落泪！父爱无边！谢谢分享你挚爱的智慧人生！
好感人！儿子写的太棒了！父亲教给了孩子意志品质！爸爸收到这样的生日礼物该是多么的感动！
Made me cry! 转发给我老公了。让他也开开眼。
wow， 我知晓背后的故事， 太感动了， 一开始，就感动， 太棒了！
端端感情细腻、意志坚定，对生活的思考和人生的触角越来越敏感和高价值。太懂事的男孩，是个懂生活的人，以后在任何环境都能幸福和自洽。不仅对生活有理解，也有见解，有温暖也有高度，有慈悲心，也有金刚心，
端端这种说实话是我理想中最棒的男孩形象，侠骨柔肠，琴心剑胆，细腻温暖又勇敢坚韧。
I always love Austin’s writing, and this is no exception. Kudos to you and your husband for raising such a thoughtful and articulate son! You must be so proud!
儿子太懂事了。like father like son.
Nice article! Well written, touching and loving！
感动！好儿子和好爸爸！
What a wonderful birthday gift! Austin is so sweet! You and Henry must be so proud！
真感人！父子连心，看得出你先生是一个充满智慧的父亲，儿子是一个成熟、爱思考、勤奋而坚韧的孩子。祝福你们一家人！
I read thoroughly & feel real warm. Nothing is better than having spiritual communication with your child, the feeling of a beloved family. Congratulations! Blessings be with your family, now & forever! ❤️
What a precious gift!! 感动
两儿子教育得真的太好了！我把儿子的信转给几位好朋友了。
感动！好儿子好爸爸的典範！Two great men! Proud family! “All credits are directed to his mother.”
好文已经转给孩子他爸让他学习
Austin is so sweet and mature! I have always enjoyed his writing。有这样的儿子好贴心！ 你俩是智慧父母。
Austin 的信太暖心了，像三月的阳光☀️
燕子，谢谢你的分享。挫折教育是父母给孩子的及其重要的礼物，赞你先生目光长远，耐心教儿子不focus一事成败，graciously面对失败，赞你儿子在挫折中思考成长，理解父母，更赞你教育这么好的孩子，又与大家分享，让大家学习收益。希望以后多多分享你们的经验
Thank you for sharing this letter of wisdom and emotion. I can feel so obviously his deep love and respect to his father.
温馨有爱且充满正能量的一家人！爸爸回复的最后一句话亮了
父亲的言传身教，儿子的成长，母亲的欣慰
温暖有爱的一家人！
Credits to his mom+1
Like the last sentence : “(All credits are directed to his mother!)”
父子都好让人羡慕与钦佩
Great parenting
学习了，我和娃爹该深刻检讨我们的parenting
写的真好，令人感动
儿子和爸爸都很棒！
智慧的爸爸，成熟坚韧的孩子[强][强]
儿子好懂事！！理解父母的辛勤付出，感恩之情跃然纸上！！
感动
好羡慕啊！你们家儿子这么早就亲近父母了。我以为都得叛逆到当了爹为止。
太感人了！