Thanks to:
Dennis McGlynn, for your wisdom, encouragement, and for always answering when I called. Many of the moments in this book began as stories told over the phone; for years you said, “This should be your next book.” It took me a while, but eventually I listened.
Kerry Thompson, Devin McGlynn McBrier, Linda McGlynn, and Paul and Laura Sagers, for your faith, love, and cheerleading.
Men’s Health, The New York Times, Parents, Real Simple, O, The Oprah Magazine, This Land, Yale Review, december, Southwest Review, and Wisconsin Public Radio’s Wisconsin Life for publishing essays from which much of the material for this book is drawn. Among the many editors I worked with, I’m especially grateful to Bill Phillips, Clint Carter, James Ireland Baker, David Sparrow, Holly Wall, Erika Janik, Katie Arnold-Ratliff, Dan Jones, and Roberta Zeff for taking a chance on my work. Also, my dear friend Willard Spiegelman, essayist and editor extraordinaire, for years of walking, swimming, and raconteuring.
Dara Hyde, for Obi-Wan Kenobiing this project from the germ of an idea to a full-fledged proposal and manuscript. Thanks for being the voice of reason and foresight, and for steering the book to Dan Smetanka, my friend and editor. An hour in your presence, Dan, can cure almost any malady, and I’m beyond fortunate to have you on my side.
Andy Hunter, Megan Fishmann, Alisha Gorder, Sarah Baline, Jennifer Kovitz, Dustin Kurtz, Jordan Koluch, and the entire team at Counterpoint Press, for your good stead and tireless efforts on my behalf. Counterpoint is the undisputed champion of publishers.
My old pal Matt Batt, whose terrific memoir, Sugarhouse, helped me to find this book’s structure and voice.
Genie Babb, for reading every chapter, essay, and excerpt, and for always keeping my spirits buoyed. Angela Vanden Elzen, for conversation and distraction while I stalked the library. David Lewis, for his whiz-bang tech skills, and the Lewis Crew, for our chance meeting and subsequent far-flung rendezvous. Tom Zoellner, Rachel May, Steve Tuttle, Taylor Larsen, Darin Dobler, Robert Anthony Siegel, and Karen Bender, for your unflagging optimism. Dave Burrows, Tim Spurgin, Gretchen Revie, Jake Frederick, Kate Moody, Peter John Thomas, and Lea Gysan, for coming through when I most needed it. Ben, Max, and Maisie, for being a part of the action.
The morning swimmers, especially Peter Allen, Scott Powley, Jürgen Sidgman, Mike Iacchei, Cindy Maltry, Laura Westfall, and Rob and Alex Bryson, for making sure I kept my head above water. Also, Margaret Allen and Jeanne Powley, for so much delicious food and friendship.
Galen and Hayden: Without you, I’d have nothing to write about, and no reason to write in the first place. Thanks for making me laugh, and I hope this book makes you proud. Please stop bugging each other for a few nights so I can rest. It’s also time to walk the dog and unload the dishwasher. Don’t make me ask you again.
Katherine: Little did you know when you agreed to go out for Mexican food that your life would end up in a book. Thanks for being a good sport, as well as my light in every dark room. Coming home to you is the best part of every day.
Selections from One Day You’ll Thank Me have appeared in the following publications:
“Sleep or Die” (as “Lowering the Bar”), forthcoming in Parents, 2018
“I Not Did It,” forthcoming in Parents, 2018
“The Q Word” (as “Know When to Quit”), The New York Times, 2017
“For Sale by Owner” (as “Small House, Big Life”), O, The Oprah Magazine, 2017, and in O’s Little Guide to the Big Questions, 2018
“Uno Is the Loneliest Number” (as “Uno Every Night”), Southwest Review, 2016
“In the Tank,” december, 2016
“The D Word,” Thin Air, 2016
“Dead Santa” (as “Santa’s Dead”), Real Simple, 2015
“The Ride of Angry Galen” (as “Letting Go”), Parents, 2015
“Ordinary Time” (as “A Pentecost of Bicycles”), This Land, 2014
“Tasks” (as “The Lighted Hallway”), Kindling Quarterly, 2014
“Please Forgive My Spotless Home,” The New York Times, 2014
“The Fourth B” (as “Sex Education at Home”), AskMen, 2014
“Sh*t Kids Say” (as “Sh!t Kids Say”), Men’s Health, 2014
“Heirlooms” (as “My Dad, Bad Santa”), Men’s Health, 2010
Additionally, “Dead Santa,” “The Deep End,” and “Heirlooms” were read aloud on the Wisconsin Life segment of Wisconsin Public Radio in December 2015, February 2013, and December 2012, respectively.