When Jon Dorenbos was 12 years old, his life changed forever.
To cope, Dorenbos immersed himself in two things: football and magic tricks. He succeeded in both areas. He was a long snapper in the NFL for 14 seasons, most notably with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Additionally, he developed a wide audience for his close-up magic. He finished in third place on the 11th season ofAmerica’s Got Talentand returned forAmerica’s Got Talent: Champions.He now tours the country performing magic and giving motivational speeches. A regular onEllen,he is happily married and the father of 5-month old daughter.
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Dorenbos, now 39, has written about overcoming tragedy in his autobiograpy,Life is Magic: My Inspiring Journey from Tragedy to Self-Discovery. In an interview withFox News, he talks about how the murder changed his life.
“The world just changed,” he said. “Everything. My dad was my hero. This is the guy that is supposed to show me what life’s about… show me about trust and love and all this. But yet he betrayed our family more than anybody.”
Last year, Dorenbos decided to travel to Washington to meet with his father, who has long been out of prison.
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“Right before I had my daughter, I wanted to relive that relationship [with my father], feel everything, the good, the bad, the ugly, to find the motivation to be a better father to my daughter,” he tells Fox.
“I let go of bitterness and hate,” he tellsParadeMagazine. “And realized that how I redefine forgiveness has changed my life for the better, and, ultimately, it ended with me, weeks before my daughter was born, going to see my dad, who murdered my mom, for the first time in 26 years. I sat and I had lunch with him for about five-and-a-half hours.”
During that long lunch, Dorenbos got the answers to many of his questions — and came to terms with the fact that there would be some things he’d never understand.
“I realized as I was sitting across from my dad that the forgiveness had nothing to do with what he had to say, with what he had to do,” he tells Parade. “It had nothing to do with getting a validation from him, hearing excuses or reasons. It had nothing to do with anything about him.”
“I can’t change it,” he continues. “These things happened, and if I can come to peace with my own reality then I’m going to be able to move on and, hopefully, do some great things in this world.”
source: people.com
