One of the greatest life lessons I’ve learned to date is this:  Persistence pays off.  My earliest recollection of this lesson involves my father.

One day, many years ago, I was playing out front with my three younger siblings.  My mom and dad were enjoying the time watching us and quietly chatting.  I vaguely noticed a small pickup truck rumble past us on the gravel and dirt road.  All of the sudden my dad was racing off on foot down the road in the direction that the truck had taken.

All of us kids stopped what we were doing and stared after him, then to our mom.  “What’s he doing?”, we asked.  Our mom didn’t answer the question directly, she simply said that he’d be back.

We waited, and waited, and waited for what seemed like forever to our young minds.  Finally, we caught sight of him a ways down the road.  Surprisingly, he was carrying something flat and wide in his hands!  As he drew closer, I remember hearing him still catching his breath from the run.  Then we could all see what he had in his hands.  PIZZA!!!!

I found out later the pickup truck that passed us was a pizza delivery truck.  In the back window was a sign stating: “Stop this truck for a free pizza.”

I grew up in an economically poor home.  I remember many days when my parents would go hungry so that we kids could eat.  Days when the meal would simply be popcorn or some saltines crackers and a slice of bologna.

This day however was a rare treat indeed.  We dined on the most exquisite Italian cuisine I thought had ever been created.  More importantly, my dad’s marathon run, and his determination to catch that pickup truck taught me another lesson, though unspoken.

Persistence pays off.