Jake graduates high school
My oldest son, Jake, 17, graduated high school the other day. Just a day before him, Sam, 14, my youngest son, graduated grammar school. How the world moves on! I’ll still have two sons in high school, as middle son Robby will be a junior next year.
Jake will goof off all summer before taking a job in the fall. Lenie insists he work only half time at the magazine, working the other half at a job he finds himself. She’s big on the kids learning what the world is all about before they go to work at the magazine.
I’d eventually like to see all my kids work at the magazine. Annie has already taken over as managing editor, and she is a natural for the job, being a very gifted editor and able to make smart decisions on editorial content. Sam is a natural artist, so I expect him to someday replace my brilliant artist, Don Childers, who is now 78. Robby will probably run the magazine someday; he’s just real smart.
It’s interesting being an older father of these young kids. I’m 65, and my children are 26, 17, 16, and 14. I have a different perspective, I think, than younger parents. My life is more settled, and I’m possibly more attuned to my kids’ needs because of that. Then again, I’ve met people my age who are more attuned to being “old people.” But I’ll never get to that age; I’ll die first.
Jake is a wonderful guy. Tall and handsome! Smart! His body is beginning to fill out. Imagine that! His body is beginning to fill out. His body is finally realizing that he has grown up, and it is responding by giving him a man’s muscle definition. He’s basically a kid who is in the process of becoming a man. I hope some politician doesn’t decide to wage a war, then draft my son as cannon fodder.
I’m delighted for Jake, but apprehensive. He’s about to enter the field of life and navigate the traps and pitfalls that await all youth. I’ve been there. You have too. There is a lot of danger, and most of us have to make mistakes before we find the right road.
