Friday, February 4, 2011

We have a winner!

The results of our January writing contest are in, and the winner is...

JACKSON!

A reader who goes by the handle "Jackson" submitted a truly heartfelt entry, and the independent third-party judge selected his out of six terrific entries as the winner.

Congratulations, Jackson! You win a FortuneKeeper! E-mail me at mattkelseyauthor@gmail.com for details about how to claim your prize.

We have so far received a grand total of ZERO entries for the February contest. So start writing! Click here for contest rules, and get those entries in by 11:59 p.m. Central time on Feb. 28.

For those of you who missed it, here's Jackson's entry, which was based on my fortune "Someone is looking up to you. Don't let that person down":

Before thinking of whom might be looking up to me, my father came to mind, and how much like him I have turned out to be. I don't remember ever thinking "I want to be like my father," but it happened, for better and for worse. The older I grow the more of him I see in me, and the more proud I am for having unconsciously emulated him.

A couple of years ago I wrote this for my father on his birthday:

As I looked at myself in the mirror this morning,

Goatee sprinkled with gray,

I saw you looking back at me.

I found myself thinking of how much of me comes from you.

My way with people, ability to persuade, to build consensus, comes from you.

The gift of language, of vocabulary, and a love for reading are gifts from you.

The way I pause and think of just the right words…

The way I withdraw when I’m depressed…

The ability to stay calm when those around are agitated…

The deep abiding love for my children…

And for my father…

And the difficulty I have expressing that love,

All come from you.

I am my father’s son.

And I am proud.


Now I see my 23 year-old son adopting my strengths and foibles, and I wonder will he pass them on? I hope he has looked up to me as I have my father.

2 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Jackson. I loved your post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, J. It came from the heart, but was prompted by Matt's most intelligent blog. I love what Matt's doing here. I'm going to let someone else have the glory and the terrific prize in February, but I'll be back again.

    Jackson

    ReplyDelete