This past weekend was my eldest 19th birthday, a milestone which we both survived up until now. I reminisced as if it was yesterday, a man so pumped, I almost kicked my wife off the gurney to give birth myself. I was so prepared with cameras and videos until they told me to put everything away, as the child was in distress. I was scared to say the least, and kept quiet until the green light was given.It was a moment of weakness, as I let my wife give our child her first name. After that I took control, as her middle name was in tribute to my grandmother. Thinking the age of 19 was going to transform her, she continued to eat her Lucky Charms as  they may be magically delicious but that doesn’t make 19 become magically above the law. It seems today everyone is simply unwilling to wait for anything. I looked at her and her first ambition was to visit the local LCBO, to buy a bottle, just because she could. I just shook my head in disappointment. What will you possibly look forward to if you already experienced going to bars, drinking, smoking and only God knows what else. One thing, I do, is trust my  children and communicate as best as I can. Life is short and to find meaning is rare for many of us. To establish goals and objectives are easy to do but hardly do we ever carry them out. People end up paying huge amount of money to learn how to live and appreciate life. Unfortunately many of the answers are under our own noses yet we are blinded when we fail to follow our hearts. The only advice I could give my daughter was to do the things that are important to her, make her happy and follow her heart.

Sincerely-Philip Magnoli, my friends call me Don Filippo