Brad Feld

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My Annual Weekend With My Dad

Feb 19, 2008

I spent the weekend in Austin with my dad who has written a nice post about his experience with me.  We ate, hung out, ate some more, wandered around, saw a shitty movie, had a fantastic dinner with friends, went for a run, and enjoyed being together.  We’ve been doing this for five years.  My rules are simple – we go anywhere he wants and I pay for everything.

This weekend with my dad is one of the work-life balance things that I do on an annual basis.  I’ve got several of these that make up the rhythm of my non-work life, including the annual Feld Men’s trip, my month in Alaska during the summer with Amy, and my quarterly "total disconnect" vacations with Amy.

As I sat on the flight home and reflected on the weekend, I realize how precious the 48 hours we spend alone together once a year are.  My dad is turning 70 next month and – while he’s in great shape for a 70 year old – we both know that neither he nor I are immortal.  We occasionally discuss heavy things like this, although this year we mostly just chilled out together.

Life is a special experience.  I’m lucky I’ve gotten to spend so much time – especially as an adult – with my father.  And I’m really glad that I figured out early enough the value of creating annual rhythms to keep things in balance.