Lucky Enough: A Year of a Dad's Daily Notes of Encouragement and Life Lessons to His Daughter

by Chris Yandle

When my daughter started fourth grade, it was Addison's fourth school in five years. It wasn't how we planned it, but as someone who moved around a lot as a kid, I knew this school year was going to be tough. Every morning, I wrote my daughter a note about life, school, or growing up, and I'd slip it in her bookbag or her lunch box to find later in the day. I shared the notes on Twitter and Facebook using #DadLunchNotes. Before I knew it, the notes became something others were seeking each day, including Addison's teacher and principal. While I knew others enjoyed the daily life lessons I penned in Sharpie, I wanted to stay true to my intended purpose-being there for my daughter and helping guide her through this difficult school year.

214 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2018

About the author

A native of South Louisiana, Dr. Chris Yandle is a former college athletics administrator and an award-winning public relations professional at both the K-12 and college level. After spending more than a decade with five different NCAA Division I college athletics programs, he transitioned to K-12 communications in his home state in 2016.

Considered among the leading communications professionals in college athletics, Chris served as the Assistant Athletic Director for Communications at the University of Miami (2012-2014) and Georgia Tech (2014-2016). He was CoSIDA's university division recipient of the 2014 Rising Star Award. Arguably Chris's greatest accomplishment during his time at Miami was photobombing ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit on the set of College GameDay in 2013.

He is a 2004 graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (B.A., Public Relations), a 2007 graduate of Marshall University (M.S., Athletic Administration), and a 2019 graduate of Mercer University (Ph.D., Higher Education Leadership). In June 2020, he is one of eight academics from across the world to be recognized with an Emerging Scholar Award at the 11th International Conference on Sport & Society.

In addition to his time in athletics, Chris has spent time as an adjunct instructor at numerous schools, including Baylor University, West Virginia University, Kennesaw State University, Winthrop University, and Southeastern Louisiana University. Past student evaluations proclaim he's a great and caring professor while a few students have complained about grading too harshly on grammar. Commas save lives, kids. His book, "Lucky Enough," is his first non-academic publication. He co-wrote the college textbook "Developing Successful Social Media Plans in Sport Organizations" with Dr. Jimmy Sanderson in 2015.

While Chris isn't silently correcting your grammar (it's true!), you'll be hard-pressed to find him in the wild without a cup of coffee in his hands. He tried giving up coffee for Lent one year. He lasted all of 12 hours, 17 minutes, and 33 seconds. A self-proclaimed trivia nerd and member of his high school's 2000 state runner-up Quiz Bowl team (because he missed the winning question), he is still on a mission to try out for his favorite game show, JEOPARDY! Do you think they heard about the Louisiana state quiz bowl flop?

Chris and his wife Ashleigh have two two-legged children - Addison and Jackson - and one furry child, a Golden Retriever named Benson. They live in Mandeville, Louisiana.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring read. Simple words with deep meaning. I wish that I had done this when my own children were small. Intend to use this in my profession as a middle school counselor in lots of different ways.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, and I am keeping it so that I can reread it. I had my husband promise to read it when I was done, I think everyone can learn something from this book. I am almost 53, and I learned several things from reading it.

[Sara Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wise words…. Not just for fourth grade girls.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very sweet book with gentle reminders for all levels of life.