This keynote is all about turning children into competent adults in today's world. In this market-driven culture like ours, it's easy and commonplace for parents like me to embrace the subject of legacy by leaving a "meaningful" financial gift for their children or descendants. The main takeaway from this keynote is that there are other, better yardships for measuring the impact of your intergenerational gift, chosen wisely...than money.

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I begin with a story about the intergenerational gift I received from my parents at 18 years of age. My father's words and the context in which they were given, made such a lasting impact on me that I was able to remember with gratitude the motivation they provided as I struggled to leave behind a perfectly good career, in order to pick up the pen and devote the next third of my life to finding my voice and learning the art of craft of creative writing. In retrospect, I remember his words as a gift, maybe even a legacy in terms of their universal applicability. For me as a parent, it comes down to whether we want our children to live in fear for the present, or, with hope for the future.

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I tie it all together and reveal that when my own teenage children were graduating from high school in Littleton, Colorado, I was an assistant Jefferson County Attorney living just a few miles from the very public massacre at Columbine in 1999. There I learned that:

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1. The worst possible choice for the catalyst with which to emancipate our graduating seniors into adults is the 9mm semi automatic, also known as the assault rifle. Just count the ever growing number of massacres that have followed in Columbine's wake. It can even be deadly for the parent (see Sandy Hook)

2. With an AR-15, there's no incentive for the recipient to ever leave home, or to ever try anything new or different. Instead, it invites the bearer to live in fear and anxiety for the future, waiting for the opportunity to use the weapon.

 

Instead of the gun based model as the catalyst for emancipation, I recommend wings, the metaphorical kind: something that will encourage the recipient to look towards the future with hope. My standout recommendation is the touring bicycle. I want to live long enough to watch my children and grandchildren riding on some or all of the 3,700 mile Great American Rail Trail. Then, I close out the presentation by talking about our growing need for safe places to ride them. I give a shout out to organizations like RailsToTrails.org for their diligence in converting abandoned and unused railroad lines into public multi use trails. This movement is happening because parents, consumers, and voters like me believe that bicycle tracks will abound in Heaven.