There's a few things -- about three things, to my count, that I need each day. One of them is something to look up to; another is something to look forward to; and another is someone to chase.
Now, first off I want to
thank God because that's who I look up. He's graced my life with opportunities
that I know are not of my hand or any other human hand. He has shown me that
it's a scientific fact that gratitude reciprocates. In the words of the late
Charlie Laughton who said, "When you got God, you got a friend, and that
friend is you."
To my family -- that's who
and what I look forward to:
To my father, who I know
he's up there right now with a big pot of gumbo; he's got a lemon meringue pie
over there; he's probably in his underwear, and he's got a cold can of Miller
Lite and he's dancing right now. To you dad -- you taught what it means to be a
man.
To my mother, who's here
tonight, who taught me and my two older brothers -- demanded -- that we respect
ourselves. And what we in turn learned was then we were better able to respect
others. Thank you for that, Mama."
To my wife, Camila, and my
kids, Levi, Vida, and Mr. Stone, the courage and significance you give me every
day I go out the door is unparalleled. You are the four people in my life that
I want to make the most proud of me. Thank you.
And to my hero, that's who
I chase. Now when I was 15 years old, I had a very important person in my life
come to me and say "Who's your hero?" And I said, "I don't know.
I gotta think about that. Give me a couple of weeks." I come back two
weeks later -- this person comes up and says
"Who's your hero?" I said, "I thought about it. You know
who it is?" I said, "It's me in 10 years."
So I turned 25. Ten years
later, that same person comes to me and goes, "So are you a hero?"
And I was like, "Not even close. No, no, no." She said,
"Why?" I said, "Because my hero's me at 35." So you see
every day, every week, every month, and every year of my life, my hero's always
10 years away. I'm never gonna be my hero. I'm not gonna attain that. I know
I'm not, and that's just fine with me because that keeps me with somebody to
keep on chasing.
So, to any of us, whatever
those things are, whatever it is we look up to, whatever it is we look forward
to, and whoever it is we're chasing -- to that I say, "Amen." To that
I say, "Alright, alright, alright." To that I say "Just keep
living."
Thank you.