Nearly 14 years ago, he came into this world. I figured If I survived y2K, I could survive a baby boy.
I was wrong. I had no idea how to raise a child.
I am the youngest child and never really had been around a baby. And adding insult to my ignorance, I was older and pretty self-centered. My son cured all that. Except the older part. In fact, I think he aged me.
I wasn’t a good father at the time. But I was the best father I knew how to be. My oldest son was our education. He was the child my wife and I learned on.
He has grown up to be an amazing young man.
I hugged him this morning. He’s nearly as tall as me and in some ways he has already physically surpassed me. He’s wearing a size 14 running shoe. I wear a size 13. He’s handsome — he looks like his mother but you can tell he’s my boy and is wickedly intelligent. He’s on the MathCounts team and is taking Geometry in 8th grade. He’s focused and organized. And very polite. He gets straight A’s and is involved in the community.
His mother did a fine job raising him!
I once took him with me to a speech on the Coast. He had (once again) gotten straight A’s and I rewarded him for his effort. We walked into the nearly deserted casino (this was during the oil spill) and he looked around at the handful of people smoking, playing slots and huffing on oxygen (not a safe combination). He then said, “Dad, this place smells like cigarettes and despair.”
He was 10. That was the most profound thing I had ever heard.
Last fall, we were driving through the Delta and he saw the tree line in front of us on the horizon. “You never really catch the trees, do you, dad?” What a brilliant description of the vast distance figuratively and literally ahead of us.
But he made me love him on a different level last Friday night. I took him to the PLS Fit4Change bootcamp after party. He watched as other athletes got awards. When it was over he said, “You don’t need a piece of paper to prove you are a Bad-A, dad (he doesn’t cuss –but said that just like that). I’ve seen you get back up when you’re knocked down.”
I looked at my son and admired his wisdom. He’s nearly 14 but has a much older soul.
And at that moment, my old heart burst with pride.
Re: “His mother did a fine job raising him!”
By you writing from your heart, you’re proving that you you BOTH did a fine job raising him! Kudos to you both on raising a fine young man in a difficult world!
I’ve known a LOT of 14 year olds. That is definitely not a typical observation from that age. Good team-work raising that guy! . . . And obviously, good genes.