As a parent, you try to teach your children about fairness and standing up for what’s right. Sometimes, life gives you a perfect, if difficult, opportunity to show them how it’s done. For our family, that lesson came wrapped in a dispute with our Homeowners Association over our RV. To my parents, that RV was a symbol of resilience—a way for us to escape and reconnect after my dad’s business struggled. To the HOA, it was a violation of a rule, an eyesore that had to go. The threatening letters caused my mom visible anxiety, and I saw the frustration building in my dad.
I watched my dad try the diplomatic route first. He approached the HOA with respect, only to be dismissed. It was a powerful lesson for me in how sometimes, systems lack heart. But what happened next was an even bigger lesson. Instead of getting angry or giving in, my dad became quiet and thoughtful. He taught me that when you’re backed into a corner, you don’t just lash out; you look for a smarter way out. He discovered that we held a surprising key to the situation: the HOA relied on us for the most basic necessity, water.
The day the HOA board came to renew the water lease was a tense one. I remember my dad’s calm demeanor as he handed them the new contract. Their shock was evident. He wasn’t being vindictive; he was simply adjusting the value of a resource he provided to reflect the new, difficult relationship. He explained it to me later as “setting a fair price for doing business with people who make life hard for your family.” It was a business decision, but one deeply rooted in protecting his own.
The outcome was immediate. The harassment stopped, and we kept our RV. That summer, sitting by a campfire, my dad shared the real lesson. “People think power is about being the loudest,” he said. “But real power is about knowing what you control and having the patience to use it wisely.” He showed me that protecting your family doesn’t always mean a loud fight; it can mean a quiet, strategic move that ensures your peace and dignity. It was the most impactful lesson in quiet strength I could have ever received.
