I travel for my job. Not a lot, but maybe six weeks a year, I am gone. This puts a strain on my wife, especially in the winter–dealing with chicken water, freezing eggs, two kids, three dogs…it’s a pain.
I am grateful to her for taking that on for me, because the part of my job where I travel is the most important part of my job (and my favorite part, too). I get to collaborate with colleagues from all over North America in fun places. If you’re one of the three people that regularly reads this, you will know that I travel and that I tend to meet new and interesting people.
That’s not what this post is about.
Ten years ago tomorrow, I missed one of only two meetings I’ve missed in my 13 year career. I missed it because my son was likely to be born that week. He was due February 28th, and he showed up that day.
As I write this, I am in Orange Beach, Alabama. I just got back from a long walk to get oysters. My hotel room’s patio door is open, and the Gulf of Mexico is pounding right outside my oceanview room. When I am done writing this, I will take my new guitar down to the beach and play Eric Bachmann songs in the dark. It’s a beautiful night and being here is a pure pleasure.
But The Boy turns double-digits tomorrow, and for the second year in a row, I am missing it. And I’d rather be in cold southern Indiana tonight so I could be there when he wakes up.
Did I ever tell you this story?
We had a summer meeting in Mobile, Alabama, in July 2010. The Boy was 2 1/2. I was eating breakfast in the Admiral Semmes Hotel with my colleagues when Melissa called me. She said that The Boy had something to tell me. He got on the phone, and sang me “Web In Front” by Archers of Loaf. Now, I will be the first to tell you that one shouldn’t have a favorite song, but that’s mine. I had to get up quickly from breakfast and leave the room because I was bawling like a baby. It is one of my fondest memories.
I am so proud of the young man he is becoming. I am proud of his voracious hunger for learning. I am proud that he is learning self-control. I am proud that he is athletic and fearless and outspoken. I am even proud that he’s pigheaded and stubborn. I can’t remember what my life was like before he showed up ten years ago, but I know he made it better. Happy birthday, Boyo. Make it a great one and I’ll see you Friday.
Ghostwood Farm 