Toph Sheldon, CPA for the Self-Employed June 2019

Kids often look up to their father as one of their greatest heroes. There are the long drives to sports tournaments, the late-night movies, and the sweets when Mom isn’t looking. We probably all have some reason to look up to our dad as one of our biggest influences. It’s Father’s Day this month, a special time of year when we take a moment to think about the sacrifices the father figures in our lives have made for us. Most dads are pretty great, but some go above and beyond the fatherly call of duty. Let’s take a look at some heroic dads who risked everything to keep their families safe. Brad Lewis: Over the Ledge Life can change in a split second, and how you choose to react in a moment of peril can define your legacy forever. Few people know this as well as Brad Lewis. When Brad and his young son, Oscar, were deeply entrenched in an intense Nerf battle, he surely didn’t think the situation would turn as dangerous as it did. When a few darts missed his father and landed on the balcony, Oscar ran after them but soon found himself teetering on the balcony’s ledge, 12 feet above the ground. Thinking fast, Brad grabbed his son just before he fell over, both taking the plunge while Brad protected his son with his own body. Just as he’d intended, Brad absorbed most of the blow. While Oscar sustained serious wounds, his father’s injuries were more severe. Brad was left fighting for his life in the ICU, with severe fractures to his skull and vertebrae. Thankfully, Brad is expected to make a full recovery and has made serious strides since the accident. He and his son will live to play another day. Being a Parent Isn’t Always a Walk in the Park Heroic Dads Who Didn’t Back Down

A Waiting Game Looking to the Future and Sticking by Your Partner While I didn’t knowToph when he was starting out on his professional golf career, I did deal with his post-golf career transition. Through all the job changes and shifting dreams, I was by his side while we worked to figure it out and make a life for our growing family. As strange as it sounds, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. When I look back, I have nothing but admiration for what we did. There is the comfort of security and then there is the comfort of knowing that you’re doing the right thing with your life, and sometimes those two things take a little time to merge together. When we first met, Toph was working for a wealth investment company and I couldn’t have pictured a more put-together guy. I saw a man with a great personality and a stable career, but I didn’t know he hated it. By the time that came out, we were already pretty serious in our relationship, and I was ready to stand by his side. He quit his job in pursuit of something greater. While I admired that quality, that’s where we’re different. I’ve always been in a field that I loved, but too often we forget that others may not be so lucky. When he left, he was taking a big risk for an even bigger reward, and it took us more than five years to see those rewards become a reality. It was a scary time, but we never had a doubt. With Toph being the financial planner among the two of us, I left it to him to figure out how to make things work. I sometimes wondered how he did and how we got by, but I always trusted him to figure things out. After I had our first child, our son Mac, I downgraded my hours to part-time at the hospital so I could spend my time taking care of him. Toph always found the time to make that work too. When he left the wealth investment job, he continued to teach and coach golf while also dabbling in at least six more professions. It was at that time he started talking about starting his own business. We were scared and worried about each other and our family, but we knew he had to give it a shot. He invested what he had and went out on his own to start the company you see today. At the end of the day, after all those years, we both wanted the same thing: a career that fulfilled him. It took a lot of one-on-one conversations and late-night debates, but we knew this was the best thing for his skillset. Today, we couldn’t be happier, and our little family will thank us later. Looking back, it wasn’t always fun, but it was always a journey we were willing to undertake, and we had each other every step of the way. –Ashley Sheldon

Greg Alexander: Couldn’t Bear to See His Son Hurt

While camping in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in June 2015, Greg Alexander awoke to the sound of a nightmare. The screams of his son intermingled with the roars of an unknown assailant,

beckoning Greg to his son’s tent. There, he found his son Gabriel being attacked by a bear. The bear had his son by the head and was dragging him away. Greg jumped on the bear’s back, desperately trying to take attention away from Gabriel. Amazingly, it worked, and in the end, the bear ran away. Gabriel was left with serious cuts to his head, but thanks to his dad’s heroism, the two were able to walk away from that campsite and back to their lives together.

The important thing to remember is that you don’t have to take a leap of faith or fight a bear to be a hero in your family’s eyes. Just be yourself, show some support,

and do the best you can. Happy Father’s Day, everybody.

2 • 513-342-4000

Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.newsletterpro.com

Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker