KIDS

“...thy children like olive plants round about thy table.” (from Psalm 128:3)

Well, this weekend is Father’s Day weekend. My own parents had sort of mixed emotions about Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. They noticed that many people paid all sorts of attention to their parents on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day but tended to ignore their parents for the rest of the year. Even so, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having special days to honor fathers and mothers.

I can’t believe I have three kids who are over the age of 21, nor can I believe that I’m 55. This 55-year-old guy with a mostly white mustache and increasingly “salt and pepper” hair looks back at me through the mirror. I honestly want to ask, “Who IS that guy?” Inside, I still think of myself as around 32!

I want to say that on this Father’s Day weekend, I’m thankful for my kids. No, they’re not perfect. From time to time someone will verbally remind me of that. Interestingly enough, I’ve found that 98% of those who’ve criticized my kids or my parenting do NOT have kids of their own! (Frankly, I think people who don’t have kids and want to criticize the foibles of those who do, may want to consider keeping those thoughts to themselves.) Despite their faults, and despite MY faults, I am thankful for my kids.

In general, my kids did not “make out” materially in life. I remember that somewhere around 4th Grade, my daughter Amy asked me why she and her friend Brittany were the only kids in the class whose families had not been to Disney World. I answered her honestly, “Because our family and Brittany’s family are the POOREST!” Yeah, we didn’t have a lot materially, and we still don’t. I feel bad that my kids will not inherit some huge estate someday. But there’s a lot we DO have. Today, each of my kids is a committed Christian, and that means a lot to me.

Rachel arrived home last evening; driving in from Springfield, Missouri. I’ve got to tell you, I was SO apprehensive about that trip! As a teenager, Rachel couldn’t seem to drive from Framingham to Ashland without getting lost. Her friend Caitlin was going to go with her to Missouri but had to back out at the last minute. When Rachel left on the morning of June 8, that was a tough one for me. There she was, a 23-year-old female in an old car with high mileage driving by herself halfway across the country. Well, I did a lot of praying! I was very relieved when I got the call she’d arrived there, and for me it was a great Father’s Day present just having her arrive home safe yesterday. Rachel was a very whiney, babyish little kid, but today she’s an amazingly talented actress and artist.
In fact, she’s also a very good interior and exterior painter although she doesn’t want to do that for a career. When Rachel paints a room, it’s a first-class professional job. Not only has Marian High School used her as a painter, but so has my sister, and all can attest to her outstanding work.

Amy’s a pediatric nurse. Amy was always a very caring and unique kid. I remember going to her 2nd Grade class play. Amy was making sure all the parents had seats and that all the kids knew their parts, etc. I know that a kid doing that stuff COULD come across as a “real snot”, but it was obvious that the kids all knew Amy was being Amy...really caring that they all did well. Amy’s our go-getter and high achiever. At Marian High, she was named one of the Christa McAuliffe scholars, that is, a student who exemplified the attitude and persona of the late teacher/astronaut Christa McAuliffe (a Marian High grad).

A lot of people don’t “get” Jon. Jon is different. I’m one of those who most “gets” Jon because all my life I’ve been “different” too. Where Jon and I are NOT alike is he’s got a much higher I.Q. than I do, and he writes better than most journalists and professional authors do. Jon’s very opinionated. One thing he’s not: he’s not phony. That sometimes gets him in a lot of trouble, but it’s hard for me to criticize someone who’s not phony. Despite that side of Jon, he does have a very sensitive side. I don’t know where life will take him, but I hope and pray he’ll be able to use his talents and gifts and make a positive mark in this world.

My own father died in early June of 2000. I remember visiting his new grave on Father’s Day 2000. Dad had been an amateur pilot and back in the ‘50s he used fly a biplane towing a sign over beaches, etc. THAT Father’s Day in 2000 as I stood at his grave, I heard the sound of a small plane flying overhead. I looked to the sky and it was a plane towing a sign. It was almost like it was some kind of a “sign” to me, and it was kind of emotional for me. It was also kind of emotional for me to write this Father’s Day piece.