Have A Son

The Cuban patriot, José Martí, said that you reach the plenitude of manhood when you plant a tree, have a son, and write a book. I have planted enough trees so that anyone reading this who has not done so can borrow one of mine. The manuscript for the only book that I might have ever written was consumed inside a fiery barrel stove in the Alaska wilderness one evening when I had a couple snorts too many from my scotch bottle. And I do have two children, one each, a son and a daughter. Life is full of happenstance, and one of those is that my son and I are particularly close. I won't say that it's because we're both what he terms "knuckleheads", but, both being Taurus', we both know what it is to grab something and shake it like a pit bull. We have found a lot in common over the years. I think he's a particularly warm, fun and caring person. But what I appreciate about him a lot is that he and I share the same sense of humor (most everyone forgives us for that), irreverence for pomposity (FTITCTAJ), and joi de vivre. He's done some pretty nutty things in life, and that sets him aside from many who just never have the spirit to do such things.

I point out to him that's because he did such a sensible thing as following my example of serving our country in a time of need in the Navy (me: Viet Nam; him:the Gulf War). He corrects my reasoning by saying he followed me into the Navy because he wanted to see if he might find a clue about how to deal with my eccentricities. Life fills our schedules every day, and we probably don't get together in person as much as we should. But we both know the other is out there, never take each other for granted, and we check in with each other frequently on the phone, via texting or mentally across the miles.