Yesterday, Glenn returned to the airwaves for the first time since the death of his father on Saturday. He delivered an emotional monologue that touched on the evolution their relationship had undergone over the years. On radio this morning, Glenn elaborated on that point as he explained the dysfunction that exists within his own family and why we all must learn to take charge of our own lives.
There is no such thing as a perfect family, and Glenn’s family is no exception. While we all may long with the ideal “Hallmark” family, Glenn suggested we would be better served if we started “wishing for reality.”
“Maybe we should start wishing for reality because that's what you are going to get. No matter what you wish for, you are going to get reality,” Glenn explained. “Families offer us perspective. Families keep us rooted… It gives you perspective.”
Glenn has always been open about his difficult childhood and the demons he faced later in life, but, as he explained, everyone is presented with a decision: “Build yourself into victimhood” or “build your own life.” Glenn and his father had a falling out several years ago, and while they never truly had a “come to Jesus moment,” Glenn talked about all he learned from his dad.
“We had a severe difference of opinion on what a man does and who a man is, but I understand my father's life,” Glenn said. “My father never told anybody [he] ran away from home when he was a kid because of the abuse that he was getting. He ran off to Los Angeles. He lived in a YMCA. When he was 16 years old, he was raped in a Y. He then finds God, and the preacher is a total and complete fraud and steals everything from everybody. After those experiences, back to his dad, who is a total ass… and says, ‘I'm just not going to be you.’ And he takes responsibility for his life.”
“My father taught me… a lot of things,” he continued. “But if he taught me anything, it was this: Life is a series of choices. You just have to make the choice and then live with the ramifications of those choices because you are an individual. You can live your life. You choose your own path. Not to choose is to choose.”
In order to take ownership of your life, however, you must have a strong foundation from which to build. For Glenn, God is an integral part of that foundation, and watching his father in the final moments of his life reaffirmed that belief.
“May I recommend you build with a strong foundation? God can help you with that… God does exist. You want a foundation? Start there,” Glenn concluded. “But... stop blaming others. Stop tolerating the blame of others. Stop looking at the excuses that are so easy and maybe you have grown accustomed to. Life is so good. It is so worth living… because only through struggle do you build anything. Only through need and necessity, only going through the fire storm do you get through the other side and go, ‘Wow. I cannot believe what we just did.’ Let's build it together.”