What Your Mother Saw You Doing

Two or three of you are wondering whether I’ll share any of the secrets I know about what your mothers saw you doing and who they saw you doing it with.

There is no need worry because if I say mom asked you if you were being smart, busy or if you loved her/him it wouldn’t out you.

Why?

Because that’s what all parents say when they come across their children engaged in certain activities, unless you are of a certain age.

Don’t worry folks, I won’t out you either, but it is kind of funny to think about how for years your parents protected your virtue and now they are doing all they can to make sure you forget the condoms and pills.

They have grandparent fever and for a short time they are willing to give you whatever you want to make babies.

And then there are those of us with teenagers who have adopted similar roles to those taken by our parents because we are not ready to be called grandma or grandpa.

And more importantly, we know our children aren’t ready and are trying to do what we can to help them have more time to enjoy being kids.

Or if you are me, you are staring at the man child you call son and are watching him borrow clothes that miraculously fit wondering when the kid who was three yesterday aged enough to turn 17 on Friday.

Should You Forgive & Forget

Someone told me some years ago about how good they are at forgiving others. They weren’t bragging or trying to make a point but just sharing a piece of themselves during a conversation.

I told them I wasn’t particularly good at doing either but that I was working on getting better.

That is still true and I think I am better about it and not just because it is hypocritical to believe in second chances if you aren’t willing to give them.

In spite of the improvement some things still jump out at me such as those few people I have trouble staying angry with.

Why?

Because if you manage to hit the place where I decide you have made me truly angry I don’t just forget, let alone forgive.

Which is why it is fascinating to me that some people seem to get away with it with me. I can’t explain exactly why, I just know it exists.

So I figure only a fool would ignore those things and those people.  Call me superstitious, but I take that kind of thing as a sign that I ought to keep those people around.

Can’t say what sort of capacity the keeping refers to, but I can say keep around is important.

Chasing A Dream

Someone once asked what it looked like inside my head and I told them it was a cold and empty place.

Another told me that was a ridiculous response so I said it was like a Marc Chagall painting and said that one day I might show them which ones I referred to.

Lately the Chagall painting I see has felt a couple steps closer to reality than it once was but only because I have taken some big chances on a few things.

I am far too superstitious and guarded to tell you exactly how or why I did so instead I’ll go for my usual sports analogy.

You can decide if you want to hear me talk about driving down the lane with Shaq, LeBron or Kareem in the paint or if you’d rather go for me at the plate swinging from the heels against the best pitchers you can think of.

Hell, if you want to talk about football you can say the QB just handed me the ball and told me to go straight up the middle.

Except it is not the 20-year-old heavily muscled and far more agile man I used to be.

No, it is me as I am now hard charging into a pile of much bigger and more athletic men than myself.

Except they don’t know that I am 109 times meaner than I used to be and that I’ll play a little dirty to get that ball to cross the plane.

Not that it matters because every real fan knows that what happens in the pile isn’t always what you call clean.

I don’t know if any of this will work or if I’ll suffer the same fate as Icarus, but I do know that you don’t get where you want to be if all you do is think about it.

Ya gotta go balls to the wall and use what Harry taught you while remembering who you are accountable to.

Maybe she loved you a little or maybe she loved you a lot. Maybe you dared her to prove it or remember it and maybe you didn’t.

The most important piece of it all isn’t any of those things but whether you are willing to dream your life or live your dreams.

Here is hoping I hit that damn pitch and or finish the layup.

Maybe I will or maybe I won’t.

All I can guarantee is having taken steps to make Four Big Things happen.

Four major moves that will be life changing events– better to try and fail than not try.

Don’t care if it sounds hokey or goofy, it had to be done.