Amanda Lamb: Passing the torch

When your children are little, you are in awe of their skills, especially when it comes to things you never mastered.

I have always been amazed that a child with the ability to dance beautifully on stage in just about every genre somehow came from my DNA.

I was equally amazed by my older daughter’s ability to jump high in the air and spike a volleyball over a net.

But now, I am awed and humbled by the knowledge they are gaining through education and life experiences. My older daughter just completed an internship and had a presentation about taking a public company private and all that that entails. Frankly, when she explained it to me, I felt like she was speaking Latin. As a journalist, I learn a little bit about a lot of things. But hearing her depth of knowledge on this topic made my heart swell like the Grinch on Christmas day.

My other daughter is preparing to study nursing in college. And while she still has not been trained in the field, she is learning about what she will be studying and picks the brain of every nurse we meet about their specialty and how they got there.

Neither of their chosen areas of expertise are in my wheelhouse. So, it is exciting to try to learn and understand what they are studying and how it will apply to their future careers.

I came from a family of lawyers, and always thought that I would be a lawyer too. When I decided to become a journalist, my parents were wary. They worried about the pressure, the low pay, the constant need to move to a new market in order to move up. Eventually, they made peace with my choice and embraced my career, delighting in my successes.

I can’t wait to see what my children do and where they go. At this point in my life, when people ask me where I see myself in five years, I answer honestly—wherever my daughters are. I hope to have a lifestyle where I can be waiting in the wings, watching them grow and participating in their adventures when they allow me to.

That’s the beauty of parenting—until you have children, life is all about you. Once you have them, you are graced with a humility that comes from putting others’ needs before your own. I have climbed mountains, walked over hot coals, experienced great failures and great successes. I am now getting ready to pass the torch to the next generation, to be an assistant on their path to what I hope will be fulfilling lives. I can’t wait.