Raising Cole

**"This book is a roadmap for parents seeking to create a lasting relationship that can withstand the storms of life." --bestselling author Max Lucado A story about fatherhood. About love. About respect. About trust. And about the simple, honest ways to create all three.** Marc Pittman, one of 16 children, is the son of a dirt-poor farmer who remains to this day the only man to even knock Marc unconscious. But when he had a son, Marc became the father he had always wanted to have. When seven-year-old Cole asked him about beer, Marc Pittman put down his can and never drank again. He told his boys everything, and they were honest with him in return. They unburdened their fears; told him their dreams; and even admitted their sins. Despite the fact that his sons were star football players, they felt no shame in holding their father's hand in public. People told him he was lucky to have the relationship he did with his children, but Marc Pittman knew the truth—it wasn't luck, he worked at it every day. And then his eldest son, Cole, was killed in a traffic accident on the way to football practice at the University of Texas. This book is the story not just of how Marc Pittman dealt with this tragedy, but of the 21 years he lived with Cole and the lessons he learned about being a good father, a good friend, and a good man.