The Day My Life Changed Forever...
I'll never forget May 23, 2003. My family and I woke up in Hawaii on a family vacation and headed to Hanauma Bay to go snorkeling.
I'll never forget the smile my dad gave me as we headed out into the water with our masks on. My dad loved me and it showed. As a 19 year old young man fresh off my first year away at college...I cherished this moment to be with him.
I'll never forget my dad and I swimming side by side and taking in God's creation together. This was one of the best moments in my short life so far....
...I'll never forget the moment when I couldn't find my dad...
...only to see him in the distance struggling and exhausted...
...I'll never forget the moment my dad - who had a deep booming voice - whimpered out "help, I need help"...
...I'll never forget swimming with my arms around my unconscious father, trying my best to get him to shore and keep his head above the water
...I'll never forget the moment it was declared he didn't make it. It was over. One of the best days of my life had become my worst in a matter of moments.
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I'll never forget what happened next...
MY DAD, MY HERO
I was in the backroom talking to God..."What just happened?" "Where were you God?" and asking "How can life even go on after this?"
My mom appeared in the doorway and said "I have something for you and it's from your dad. I found it in his briefcase."
I had no idea what she was talking about.
My mom walked across the room and handed me a letter. At the top it said "Dear Blake, Natalie, and Marcus"
It's hard to describe how I felt in that moment but one word is...LOVED. My dad, not knowing he was about to die, spent the last couple months of his life writing us a letter...Wow.
I began weeping.
Even after his death my dad was still there for me.
The power of ONE man writing ONE letter leaving ONE legacy changed everything in my life!
That day I dedicated my life to living for what really mattered...God and people.
In 2010 I married the girl of my dreams and by 2015 we had started our family when my little girl was born.
The moment she was born everything changed! It was time to write her a letter the same way my dad did for me...And I quickly realized how hard it was. I couldn't get my thoughts organized and it seemed as if I was always "too busy".
That's when it hit me...every dad wants to write this letter but most dads don't...why? For the same reason I kept getting stuck.
After a couple times of God clearly saying,
"GO HELP DADS WRITE THIS LETTER!" I got it.
The Legacy Letter Challenge was born. It was time to help dads like you.
Why?
Because YOUR legacy matters.
Blake is on a mission to help 1 million dads and moms write at least one well written, meaningful, lasting Legacy Letter to their children. Blake has a wonderful wife and loves being a father to his three children, all under 8. As he leads his family, he draws from many mentors, but none more important than his late father, Larry Brewer.
