BEEN HERE, DONE THIS

As I walked with #2 Son on the campus of the University at Purchase, I couldn’t help but feel as Yogi Berra once said: “Deja Vue, all over again.”

Was it so long ago that I walked along the college roads at UNC with #1 Son? Was it so long ago that we discussed the future dreams and hopes? Was it so long ago that I made comparisons with my college days?

If I’m proud of anything in my life, it is that my sons are making good choices in their lives. Sometimes we make mistakes, because we are colored by what seems best, not really what is right. Sometimes we choose to recognize right from wrong, and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes, we can’t help ourselves when we make choices because we may have a problem or two that grinds us down. But my boys seem to have knack for what is right in the end. Mom and I are very happy with the directions that the boys are going in, and hope they stay the course.

When I was young, I swore that I would never marry. I felt that I would never be happy as a married man, since in spite of this blogue, I am a private man, who could very easily live with myself. Then TLW (The Little Woman) came long and changed all that thinking. I soon discovered: it is not what you plan that makes you happy; it is what you experience. Experiencing TLW made life good for me, and so the boys are experiencing what makes them happy is the only important thing in life.

You can’t live for someone else’s dreams or expectations. No, you can live only for yourself, to be happy. If your life changes directions because of extenuating circumstances, you change, but you must keep the inner-self happy.

#2 Son is smart, he is making the best of life’s experiences, and sometimes I don’t always agree with his choices. But in the end, I can’t flap his wings for him to fly, that he does for himself. When he does flap them, and learn how to fly, he will be a great flyer, and will soar high above any disappointment, just like #1 Son learned.

And here is something that is most important, if you don’t try something you’d like to: you will always harbor regrets.