When Theresa Byrne saw the way this father encouraged his injured son, it stopped her in her tracks and hit her right in the feels.
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A father’s love. A son’s injury. A year of challenges. From pain came something pure and beautiful.
At The Good Men Project we focus on what it means to be a good “everything you can be”: man, dad, student, husband, friend, son, boss, employee, plus a good Samaritan, a good human being, and a good person. I think that conversation applies to us all. How can you become something you’re proud of being?
I hope to open up a conversation about creating consciousness and what goes into making those attributes happen; and how we can support them in ourselves and others. It’s not just for men, or about men, it’s about all of us.
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A father’s supportive video to his son as he’s healing an injury keeping him from the game he loves; in a year that’s been discouraging to say the least.
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The other day I ran into something that stopped me cold. A father’s supportive video to his son as he’s healing an injury keeping him from the game he loves, in a year that’s been discouraging to say the least. As someone who has been in her own healing journey (a brain injury from a car accident in 2014), I think the support in this video struck a cord deep within me. I know how much I’ve depended on faith and the support of my loved ones to make it through my own challenges, and I’m guessing Dallas might feel the same.
I love this video, and the story behind it.
I found it on my Facebook feed, because I’m lucky enough to have gone to high school with this pretty spectacular dad, Matthew Walton. A father who does what he can to cheer on his son, even when things look darkest. This particular father was your typical all-around great guy in high school, and yes, they do grow up to be incredibly amazing men. (Ladies, nice guys are the best).
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Matthew Walton tells me: “I guess the bottom line for me is that this is a snap shot of how proud I am to see him grow in to the man he is today.”
Here’s the post I ran across on November 28, 2015:
Matthew Walton:
As many of you know, the past 21 months have been challenging for my son, Dallas Walton. He had to work through the social stigmas of transferring to a rival high school, navigate the worries, doubts and fears of two ACL surgeries. And from those surgeries, keep his focus on working hard on recovery, rehab and diet. Also, throughout this entire process, he had to sideline his desire to play the game he loves.
I’m not saying that his story is any different or more challenging than any one else who has fought through personal hardship, but for me, as a parent, I could not be more proud of the way he has worked through these challenges. He could have been recluse and not done the physical therapy or put himself out there to meet new friends, but he didn’t. He rose to the occasion and realized that adversity can bring about some the greatest blessings. This video is for you Dallas. Go out there, have fun and make it a great senior year. #blessed #loved
Dallas if you read this, please know that you are loved, you are supported for the man you are becoming and the father you may one day become. Trials and tribulations happen to all of us, and it’s what you do once you get back in the game that matters. And that game is much bigger than just the one on the court. Blessings, my friend. You’ve got a fan for life here.
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Video courtesy of Matthew Walton, proud father
A very inspiring story of a dad’s giving of the love that heals. Thank you for sharing this.