
<p>I hope you had a great Father&#8217;s Day and summer solstice, the longest day of the year, yesterday. It was a great day to offer thanks to the men who played a special role in shaping who you have become. For many, it is their biological father, and for others it is one or more other men who played that crucial role.</p>



<p>As I have gotten older and learned the value of hearing this praise, I have been more intentional about thanking the men who helped shape me. Over the last few years I have taken to Facebook or sent cards to thank some of the many men who influenced me to become a better person, or from whom I stole an idea of what it meant to be a father. As I have discussed before, ;<a href="https://jackmjose.medium.com/the-last-time-i-saw-my-father-7479318ac3a3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">my father was almost entirely absent from my life</a>.</p>



<p>Getting a text and a call from Ellie and lunch with Ben (and Kendall!) really made my day.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-style-default"><img src="https://thebestwordsllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PXL_20210620_192151913-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-522"/><figcaption>Father&#8217;s Day lunch with Kathy, Ben, and Kendall</figcaption></figure>



<p>It is also great after years of teaching to hear from former students that I played some part of this role in their lives, and that they are grateful for my presence too.</p>



<p>This week I helped myself mentally transition back into the post-COVID reality by planning an eye doctor appointment, a dentist appointment, and bringing back my first quarantine article, ;<a href="https://thebestwordsllc.com/brownies-are-not-hugs-and-other-crucial-lessons-i-learned-early-during-quarantine/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brownies are not Hugs</a>. It was a nod to the extra weight I was going to gain during quarantine, and the hug-less reality ahead.</p>



<p>I hope that an end to the quarantine and an expanded social calendar is bringing you more hugs too. And more dentist&#8217;s visits and such too.</p>



<p>I encourage you to ask, as I have been, &#8220;Are we hugging? We hug, right?&#8221; I&#8217;ve gotten some terrific hugs the past couple of weeks, and it&#8217;s really a terrific medicine. I hope you get some too.</p>



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<p>The word for this week is &#8220;subvert&#8221; and its noun form &#8220;subversive&#8221; &#8211; unhelpfully defined as &#8220;one who subverts.&#8221;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">subvert</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verb" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>verb</strong></a>​</p>



<p>sub·​vert | \ sÉb-ËvÉrt \<strong>subverted</strong>; ;<strong>subverting</strong>; ;<strong>subverts</strong></p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Definition of ;<em>subvert</em></h3>



<p>​<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transitive" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">transitive verb</a>​</p>



<p><strong>1: ;</strong>to overturn or overthrow from the foundation ;<strong>: ;</strong><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ruin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">RUIN</a><strong>​</strong></p>



<p><strong>2: ;</strong>to pervert or corrupt by an undermining of morals, allegiance, or faith</p>



<p>​</p>



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<p>As we are all working to get unstuck, I offer you also ;<a href="https://thebestwordsllc.com/get-unstuck-learn-sudoku-or-a-different-new-game/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">my article about how I&#8217;ve been trying (and struggling) to get better at sudoku</a>. More helpfully, you can play a game or two of sudoku ;<a href="https://app.convertkit.com/campaigns/6497410/nytimes.com/crosswords" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a> ;or ;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/games/sudoku" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>, or learn a lot more about the rules and the strategy (and play the game) ;<a href="https://app.convertkit.com/campaigns/6497410/www.sudoku.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</p>



<p>Make it a great week!</p>

202.6.21 The Best Words Weekly: Bringing Hugs Back
