Time To Turn The Chess Board Over

Hadn’t listened to Brooklyn Roads in forever so maybe it is coincidence and maybe it is fate that led to it playing now.

You could say it has a bit of a universal quality that makes it relatable to people. You could ask me to explain how it connects to A Reality Check and I might tell you.

Might say my baby girl got more letters of admission to various universities or that the toilet I fixed is running.

Toilet is a simple thing, probably just need to make a small adjustment of the chain and that will take care of that issue but college, well that is different.

That girl of mine is getting ready to fly and there are big decisions coming about whether to go West, East or stay in Texas. Some of them I can help with and some are nothing more than make the best decision you can and see what happens.

The Life We Live & The Life We Dream

She bounces between trying to be independent and asking me my thoughts.

This daughter of mine, the one who used to crawl onto my lap and instruct me how to move so she would be most comfortable knows her own mind.

This daughter of mine who used to tell me to pick her and twirl her has a plan and she tells me as much as she thinks I need to know and not much more.

Sometimes when she opens up I see the woman she is becoming and hear the girl she was.

Sometimes when she rolls her eyes or makes a face I try not to snort because I remember knowing my parents didn’t know or understand as much as they thought they did.

So I tell her to remember there is the life we live and the life we dream. I tell her there is more complexity in some things than she knows and that very little is as black and white as we might like it to be.

“People do things for reasons we can’t understand or appreciate and most of the time we don’t have to. You have to figure out what works for you and do that. Some of that might change and or evolve over time. That is ok.

And you’ll know it is ok if you can go to bed knowing you did your best even if you still feel torn up.”

Time To Turn The Chess Board Over

The younger Mr. Wilner, he who turns 21 in a matter of days is seated to my right when I turn on Moving Right Along.

“I think Paul Williams wrote this.”

“Who?”

“A famous songwriter and actor. You know more of his stuff than you know. This Muppets song, a couple of Three Dog Night songs like Out In The Country and Old Fashioned Love Song. Little blond guy in Smokey and The Bandit.”

“What are you trying to teach me dad?”

“Who said I am trying to teach you anything. You already know a ton.”

“Just tell me what it is you want me to take from this.”

I laugh and tell him he has figured more things out about his current situation than he realizes and he is on the verge of some big things.

“Take your time, don’t fear making mistakes and remember sometimes it is time to turn the chessboard over. Sometimes you remove it because you need to stop acting like a pawn and moving the way others want you to.

Sometimes you have to just make it up as you go. I have done that more once and in the process of doing some of it again. Not everyone deserves your time and even people who might have been important or still are can be deserving of removal.

If they don’t treat you as you need to be treated you hold them accountable and let them know they need to change or you will.”

We go back and forth, talk some more about the Spiderman movie we just watched, music and lyrics and I go quiet so that he can carry the conversation. It is intentional because sometimes this is where you get the gold nuggets of information.

He is very much his own man and very different in many ways than I am, but there are ample similarities and connections. We both forget sometimes how well we can read each other.

Some of that will help him follow what I am trying to say but most of this he is going to have to figure out on his own and that is ok.

Experience can’t be gained by osmosis, it has be learned and earned. He’ll get there and so will his sister.

But every now and then I’ll try to send up a few flares for them to follow or nudge their ship in a slightly different direction.

It is a hell of a time now, there is magic in the air and a certain amount of poison too.

Time to see if we can build an airship and or wings that can help us individually or collectively rise above it all.

Going to be a little bumpy and a little painful, but I see thermals we can catch that will send us sailing up and that might be enough.

And if not, well I am built for demolition and can always plow through. It is a little harder than it used to be, those bumps and bruises take a bit longer to heal but heal they do be they heart, flesh or bone.