James Shepherd – How has the injury affected your parenting?

Six children between my current wife and I, and eight grandchildren. So, life has been full. I used to worry when my son was born, he was my first child. And I used to worry, “what am I going to do because I can’t go out and dive for the football, and do a fly and catch, and roll on the ground, and roughhouse, and do all that, and how is he going to grow up and what is going to think?” And as he went through and watched him play soccer and basketball, I was probably the only father on the sidelines that when the game was over, had a child who across and gave me a hug. And our deepest bond is probably from hunting and fishing. He is still an avid outdoorsman and that is the biggest gift I gave to him. I could go out and for a while walk in the woods, and then as I aged a little bit, riding a four wheeler, differently. But I think it didn’t really affect how I parented and my kids have always had a special perspective. I remember my daughter in third grade wrote a paper about “my hero star.” And she talked about the things that I did that stood out for her because I was different than some of the other parents. And she just valued how I went on, and faced and did whatever. So, I think it made me a better parent in many ways.