Forget the fact that I have aches and pains in the morning and I have no idea where they came from. Or that I fall asleep now well before David Letterman hits the air. Even that I seem to have a few extra pounds around my waist that I swear weren’t there just a few years ago. While I’m getting used to all of that, my oldest son just turned 16, and it feels a bit like getting whacked in the face with a two-by-four!

To me, this kid who has been living with me for quite some time now is still my little guy. I can’t seem to get over the fact that he is becoming this young man, with a real life, opinions and interests all his own. He’s realizing that his old man isn’t perfect. I can’t help but feel I haven’t done enough of those “dad things,” you know, the father and son chats regarding life, love and stuff! I still think there is something more I should’ve done, and I can’t for the life of me think just what that might be.

Then there is this driving thing…yikes! It’s like we’re literally off to the races. I remember back when I got my license, it was the ultimate sense of freedom, and I could go where I wanted, do what I wanted, whenever I wanted. I’m kind of bummed that my son might start feeling the same way I did. I sure hope he’s not in any kind of hurry to get away from the likes of his overprotective parents.

I guess the moral to my story is there is no moral to my story. At the end of the day, I can only hope that all the things we’ve done with him, all the values we’ve hoped to instill in him have somehow found a way to stick. I often wonder if all the talks about right, wrong and that huge gray area in the middle, have they helped even a bit?  

I can only hope he paid some attention to some of it, and forgives me for all the times I’ve over-reacted, or said or did something I later regretted, and I hope he learned from my mistakes so he’s more likely to get it right when it’s his turn. I hope he paid attention to the times when I showed love and compassion, or admitted the times when I was wrong, or held my ground when I knew that my course of action was just and the right thing to do, even though the end result may not have turned out the way I had hoped.

When it’s all said and done, my wish is that he will remember that I have done, and will always do the very best I can for him, his brother and my wife. And that I am so proud of the young man he is and the person he will become. I pray that someday an amazing person like him will come into his life and change it for the better, the way he has changed my life, and me, for the better.

Father Time and his little milestones have a way of reminding us of our age but once you get past the shock and awe, I guess he’s not so bad. I could do without all the gray hair, but hey, I can’t complain, at least I still have my hair!

Thoughts for the Week:

We are always the same age inside –Gertrude Stein

In the end it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.

-Abraham Lincoln

Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.

–Walt Disney

None are so old as those that have outlived enthusiasm. –Henry David Thoreau

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. –Mark Twain

You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt, as young as your self- confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope as old as your despair.

-Douglas Macarthur

Today is the oldest you’ve ever been, and the youngest you’ll ever be again. –Eleanor Roosevelt

Labor doesn’t end when the baby is born, that’s when it begins. –Unknown

Looking forward to our next conversation