Bernie Rabik: A light bulb has gone on

With the recent publication of Luke Russert’s "Look for Me There," a literary light bulb has gone on.

Luke Russert was an Emmy Award-winning journalist who previously was an NBC News correspondent covering Congress. His reporting was seen on NBC Nightly News. He presently lives in Washington, D.C., with his pug, Shawkemo.

After his father, Tim Russert, died unexpectedly, Luke kept looking for his father, following in Tim’s footsteps and carving out a highly successful career at NBC News. After eight years of covering politics on television, Luke realized he had no good answer as to why he was chasing his father’s legacy.

As the son of two successful parents (his mother also is a journalist), he felt the pressure of high expectations to succeed and to leave the familiar path behind.

Instead, Luke set out on his own to find answers. What began as several open-ended months of travel to decompress and reassess morphed into a three-plus-year odyssey across six continents to discover the world and, ultimately, to find himself.

Chronicling the important lessons and historical understandings Luke discovered from his travels, "Look for Me There" is both the vivid narrative of that journey and the emotional story of a young man taking charge of his life, reexamining his relationship with his parents, and finally grieving his larger-than-life father, who died too young.

For anyone uncertain about the direction of their life or unsure of how to move forward after a loss, "Look for Me There" is a poignant reflection that offers encouragement to examine our choices, take risks, and discover our truest selves.

The last words belong to Luke:

“You won’t get anywhere in life just sitting on the sidelines. [his mother’s eyes meet Luke’s. ‘you can do it.’”

“I’m on my own, where I want to be.

“I kept myself from knowing me because I was afraid of really knowing me. I still am.

“How did I get here? I’ve broken away from a relationship that could have been a marriage, hell, even my hometown

“What do I have to show for it? These questions tear at me. Was that journey, all this travel, merely an escape — an escape from the self-doubt and sense of inadequacy I’ve felt.

“No, the travel had to be more than that. For a long time, it was. It made me better. It opened my eyes to so much. But what am I to take from it now that I’ve seen the world? The more I think about it, the more anxious and upset I become.”

In the end, it is difficult to transfer knowledge to another human being. Strive for something real ― authenticity. There is a light bulb that has gone on! There is an America outside of Beaver County!

Bernard Rabik, a Hopewell Township attorney, is a columnist for The Times.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Rabik: A light bulb has gone on