Being connected to your roots is SO important....

I just spent the last two weeks visiting my family in Texas.  I was able to be in my childhood home and reminisce about my younger years as a rural southern boy.  My world couldn't be more different now but the connection I have to my youth couldn't be stronger.  Being back in that place has helped me to see how important a connection to your roots is so important for who you truly are.  Your paths in life might take you to new and different places but you will always be a part of where you grew up. There's no escaping it.

I grew up in rural East Texas and even though I haven't lived in that environment in over 18 years, as soon as I'm there, I feel like I'm immediately back to that way of life.  It's much different than my way of life now.  It's certainly different that where my children are growing up in suburban Chicago.  I want my children to have a connection to those roots.  It's where their father came from.  It's an important part of who I am and why I am the person I am today.  The people in the photo below are the people who helped to shape who I am.  My father, Don, my mother, Diane and my two sisters, Jennifer and Kimberly.  I am so thankful for their influences on my life and for the influences they continue to have on the people that they encounter in their daily lives.  They are special people.

Wherever you are in your life now, don't forget about where you came from.  Your roots help to define you.