Miss my older children now

I was cooking dinner for me and my youngest child who is 17. I was preparing things and enjoying a glass of wine (one glass only!). I remember when I used to do this for our oldest children when they were little, then for our youngest boys when they were little.

It's fun to see them all growing up and becoming successful adults but I miss those time. It's fun to think about those times, to remember the joy of caring for them, but it made me mist up a little.

I guess that's part of being a parent. I poured as much of myself into my children as I could while pursuing my career and keeping my relationship with my wife. Yes, I missed things, yes I got upset at awkward times, but I taught and taught and taught and lived and did things with them and enjoyed being with them. And I miss my older children now.

Driving the boat

I remember going out on the Gulf of Mexico with my father and a friend of good one Saturday when I was 14 it so. While the friend was in the back cleaning things up after a full day of fishing my dad let me drive the boat. We were going full speed and I was supposed to keep it between the big pylons that guide boats to the port.

Somehow I aimed the boat in a way that we were running full speed outside the channel. I was focused on the next two pylons and Dad and I shared a few minutes of carefree fun with the wind blowing in our hair and the sun setting behind us.

Then the guy looked up and freaked out! He started swearing and saying we were out if the channel and probably in about 5 feet of water and could wreck at any moment. He slammed the throttle down so we instantly dropped speed, looked around the boat, then slowly got us back in the channel.

That feeling of embarrassment comes over me every once in a while. The fear of being outside the channel froze me for a long time, and still makes me cautious. But I've learned to get past it.

Celebrate anyways

We planned a trip to Hawaii a couple of years ago to celebrate some major life accomplishments: our 30th wedding anniversary, my daughter earning her Bachelor's degree, and my son/third child graduating high school.

My daughter couldn't make it due to work. The day after graduation she moved to Pennsylvania to take on a camp director role that she was hired for back in January. Summer camp is in full swing and she just couldn't get away.

But we are celebrating anyways! Over the years what I've learned is that celebrations are important, and sometimes need to happen every if someone can't make it. My daughter is a case in point, but my father is another one to think about. He passed away back in April, and while he couldn't have made the trip due to his illness and can't celebrate with us now we are still celebrating.

So many times I've allowed a celebration to be derailed by not being into it, not wanting the hassle, thinking that it wasn't appropriate. Oh, I'm sad that I missed those opportunities to celebrate!

So when you get a chance to celebrate something make the effort. It brings joy to you and those around you, and hopefully your world a better place as it does for me.

Bastardizing the english language

My mom said I may be a "little OCD". That's a mental illness!

She's 76 years old so I didn't want to argue with her. But it offends me to think that I am seen to have mental illness.

She also used the phrase "work wife" when talking about a lady my father worked with. I got rather upset about it and asked her not to use that phrase anymore.

Words mean things, and when we water down the meaning in an attempt to be cute or clever it reduces the impact of the words.

Mental illness is nothing to laugh at, though a lot of comedy focuses on it. Sheldon from "Big Bang Theory" comes to mind, as well as movies like "Liar, Liar" and others.

I wish our pop culture didn't bastardize the English language so much. But with all of the single mothers, test tube babies, and divorces even saying that doesn't mean what it used to mean. In fact it might be taken as something positive and liberal-minded...