Page 34 - Salesianum - Distinguished Gentleman - Summer 2020

FEATURE
FATHER, SON AND HOLY HANDOFF
How My Father’s Recovery Inspired the Writing of Seven: In the Lane of Hope
By Michael J. Marini ’94
My father and I have had a running joke throughout the years that someday we were going to write a book. When I was growing up, he used to say his book was going to be called God, Please Don’t Move the Finish Line. He would joke that he just hoped he had enough gas in the tank to make it across the finish line that
God had set before him.
I also had talked about writing a book over the years about my seven sisters. Eventually, it came to pass that the two of us decided to join forces. Our collaboration ultimately stemmed from a serious incident: an almost fatal illness that my father miraculously survived.
It was an eye-opening experience for my entire family and me, leaving my father especially filled with such amazing gratitude for his survival while he worked to regain strength. As he was recovering, we would take walks around our back field, a familiar area where he once trained my 10 (yes, 10) siblings and me during our track days. He often used that time to express his thanks to the good Lord for giving him another lap around the track of life, the life lessons he had learned along the way, and the fact that there was so much more for him to look forward to.
32 DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN | Summer 2020