Spring Break
Ten Year Reunion Message
Dan Beck, OD, Contributing Writer
Issue date: 2/17/09 Section: Features
Looking back at the last ten years, I want to start by talking about what is most important to me: my wife. She is truly my life partner, lover, mentor, work-out partner, and best friend. I love the way she challenges me, improves me, and appreciates everything I do for her and the way I make her feel. Even after all these years of marriage, the electric feeling I get after staring into her eyes is still there. For us, marriage is a constant process of discovery, and our love and commitment to each other grow each day.
We have two young children. I've realized by now that neither of them will live up to my dream for them of being Navy fighter pilots -- they love the piano and drawing so much I've often wondered if they were switched at birth. We're raising them to be happy, self-aware individuals and watching them grow is our greatest joy in life (outside of our marriage relationship).
I leave work by 5 pm, and it's an easy commute as we live a few blocks from the office. On weeknights, my wife and I switch off between cooking dinner and cleaning and we always sit down together as a family. The kids are still young so we put them to bed at about 8:30, and then my wife and I have quality time alone until we go to bed. We don't own a television, and I think it strengthens both the marriage and our relationship with the kids. On either Friday or Saturday night we make sure to have a date night out with just the two of us.
One reason I can have such flexibility in my family life is that I started my own investment partnership. I wanted the challenge, opportunity, and intellectual stimulation of investing on my own, as well as the opportunity to find value across a variety of industries. It's amazing how much money people will invest with you when they're convinced of your honesty, integrity, long term focus, and concern for them.
I spend about ¼ to ½ of my workday reading, thinking, and researching, and the rest talking with the others in the office, listening to investment ideas, and chatting with company management or similar minded investors.
We have two young children. I've realized by now that neither of them will live up to my dream for them of being Navy fighter pilots -- they love the piano and drawing so much I've often wondered if they were switched at birth. We're raising them to be happy, self-aware individuals and watching them grow is our greatest joy in life (outside of our marriage relationship).
I leave work by 5 pm, and it's an easy commute as we live a few blocks from the office. On weeknights, my wife and I switch off between cooking dinner and cleaning and we always sit down together as a family. The kids are still young so we put them to bed at about 8:30, and then my wife and I have quality time alone until we go to bed. We don't own a television, and I think it strengthens both the marriage and our relationship with the kids. On either Friday or Saturday night we make sure to have a date night out with just the two of us.
One reason I can have such flexibility in my family life is that I started my own investment partnership. I wanted the challenge, opportunity, and intellectual stimulation of investing on my own, as well as the opportunity to find value across a variety of industries. It's amazing how much money people will invest with you when they're convinced of your honesty, integrity, long term focus, and concern for them.
I spend about ¼ to ½ of my workday reading, thinking, and researching, and the rest talking with the others in the office, listening to investment ideas, and chatting with company management or similar minded investors.
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