By Junious Smith III

If I become half the man my father is, I can consider my life fulfilled.

For Junious Smith, Jr. (and no, I refuse to call him JS2), Monday will be his 70th birthday. My dad has been an amazing example of what a man should be: a role model, protector and upright citizen. If I were to list all of his accomplishments and positive qualities, this column would read as a novel, so I’ll name his one imperfection:

My dad is a Duke fan.

(His explanation: everyone on my mom’s side of the family is a Carolina fan and with him being from Texas, he didn’t have a real grasp of the rivalry and decided to be a heel. So, here we are. I don’t hold it against him though. Well, at least during the offseason anyway.)

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been going through some of his old pictures to create a slideshow for his surprise birthday celebration tonight. Unfortunately, most of the photos from his childhood were lost due to fires, but it blew my mind going through what still existed. My father spent 22 years in the military (some of those are incorporated in the slideshow), married a phenomenal woman on July 18, 1987 whom he loves dearly to this day and beyond (there’s an entire section dedicated to him and my mom), had two great kids (my brother and I will definitely be in there) and was just a wonderful individual.

Then, there were the pictures in different states. My dad loved to travel and going through the pictures brought me to the numerous family trips we took — mainly to Texas, but also dozens of other states. Before I turned 20, I had a story about at least 25 states and had only flown twice. Driving was therapeutic for him and even as my brother and I were old enough, he wouldn’t let us touch the wheel. One of my favorite stories didn’t even involve the family — he went on a cross-country, three-week trip with a few church friends decades younger than him a few years back, did most of the driving and had more energy than anyone else.

For anyone who ever wondered where my drive comes from, there’s your answer. My dad never strayed from hard work and dedication, even when others couldn’t see his vision at the time. He instilled discipline and character in his sons, and while we’ve certainly had times where we deviated from the path, the laurels remain. My brother and I were blessed to have someone who cared and made sure we were successful in our endeavors.

Tonight, I’ll have the opportunity to deliver a toast at the celebration for him. His sisters and other family members from Texas will be in attendance, along with dozens of friends, former coworkers and family members. It will also be a chance for redemption after butchering his 50th with a terribly haphazard speech. I know I was 10 — it still plagues me to this day. There’s no telling how it will sound, but it will be self-vindication. As a kid, I knew I was raised by someone special and it’s a blessing to still have Superman in my corner.

Until then, I’ll keep grinding until I feel like I’ve done completely right by him.