One could tell the story of Jericho wandering through a secret garden and how a passionate shepherd promised to make her a bed of roses and to perhaps build her a castle.
She in turn swore she could take better care of him than any other and then Jericho wandered off into a sunset and lived one hell of a life.
****
Fast forward to a different time and day and play a song that would be an unlikely choice other than the lyrics touch upon an idea that moved them.
And then just for kicks go a completely different route and leave the conversation about a bed of roses and sanctuary for a dream that was once lived and a known future that was simultaneously filled with unknowns.
“You kissed me first and you said it first…miss revisionist.”
The graduate and I discuss thoughts, ideas and dreams while he tries to convince me I don’t know as much as I think I do about him.
“Mr. Graduate, I have watched you for your entire life. I know things about you that you don’t know about yourself and some of them are because I was you.”
We go back and forth doing the dance of fathers and sons and I remind him that at 50 I still haven’t figured out exactly what I want to do with my life.
Or should I clarify, I know exactly what that is but I haven’t figured out how to make it pay for the clothes on his back, roof over his head and all of the other things that come with it.
“But I practice, almost every post has some fiction included in it. Every time someone reads it and tells me they are certain they know who I am writing about or that I have written about ‘us’ I nod and smile because I did write about ‘us’ except it might not be the same ‘us.’
The graduate says that is a good way to piss of a girl, to make her think she wasn’t special and I nod my head.
“But I am not trying to do that. I am trying to construct characters people can relate to and let their imaginations fill in the blank.
Sometimes I provide a few more details like blonde hair, blue eyes or dark hair, dark eyes and long legs but there isn’t reason to go beyond that. It is usually better to let people fill in the blanks.”
The graduate looks at me, says he suspects I am still trying to mess with people and I flip the conversation back to the near future.
“Mr. Emerson was a foe in school but has since become a dear friend. I agree with so very much of what he says. I highly recommend you read some of the works I have recommended.
And I recommend you not spend any time comparing yourself to others because post high school the uniformity of school and path is gone. It is useless now.”
I say some of it for him as much as me because I will blink and there will be no children living with me anymore and new opportunities will present themselves.
The days of having to live in specific neighborhoods for schools and of working/doing certain things to provide first for children and then for parents will be gone.
And the days of trying to figure out how to live in a new world will begin.
There is a certain excitement that comes with that and the adventures that will be available. So throw on a few Dylan songs and look over the horizon cuz the times they are a changing.
