Empoword Community

If I had to pick up one word in the whole world to describe my dad, it would be love.

When my dad died this fall, I lost my touch point and role model for understanding love.

My dad loved so easily and fully and authentically. He taught me how to love, how to never be afraid to tell someone you loved them, how to be passionate about the things you loved.

He showed us things that otherwise we might have missed. We would be together on an adventure somewhere and wonder where he was. He’d be back investigating a flower carved in the architecture, or a faded painting or a particularly interesting bug on the ground. His curiosity was contagious. He would never stop loving, learning and listening.

Most importantly, my dad taught me how to love life. He inspired all those around him to do the same. He never took for granted the grand beauty in little things, like the details of a snowflake or the brushstrokes of a painting or the marking of a brown trout. I saw him teaching my kids how to love life, how to appreciate joy everywhere and how important it is to laugh.

February – “the month of love” – makes me think of all the things that Hallmark tells us we should be thinking, feeling and saying about love. Trivial and superficial. Pink and red, flowers and hearts. Then I think about my dad and loving life, loving the little, non-material things. This February, that is the kind of love I will hold onto.

- Wendy Lutter
Empoword Co-Founder and CEO (Chief Empowerment Officer)