Proud Papa

I don’t think I have bragged about my boys enough.

All three of these young men are extremely intelligent, independent, creative and fun to be around. They have many similar traits. They are all quick witted. They have a broad sense of humor. They all have eclectic tastes in music (my fault) and reversing roles, they have all started to share their favorite music with me. Granted all of these things manifest in differing ways, but they are all strong well rounded personalities. They seem to know what direction they want their lives to go, and I am doing my best to keep out of their way. I know they will come to me if they need help or advice because they already have. All three are “man enough” to give out hugs and tell the people they love that they love them. They make me so very, very proud.

Justin is our oldest. He has a very good eye for pictures: stills and video. He is also a natural sketch artist. The avatar I use at the top of the navigation column is a rendition Justin did of me several years ago. It is a subtle caricature that looks enough like me that if you saw me in real life (without a ball cap on) you would know who I was. I have a carefully preserved crayon drawing of Charlie Brown that Justin did before he entered kindergarten. He didn’t have to tell me it was Charlie Brown, it was that good. I see his talent for seeing things with an artistic eye showing up in the mundane parts of life. These have shown up as slide show pictures on his computer’s screen saver. Ordinary events become extra-special. He does even better with pictures of people. I hope someday to sit in a movie theater and watch a film he’s directed.

Chris is our middle son. He has a mind like a steel trap. During much of his younger life I thought his talents leaned only towards science and math. I was wrong. Yes, he has that talent set, but he also has a creativity that can only be described as ‘thinking the box never existed’. He has discovered computer programming, and has discovered that he likes it. Just for fun he created a computer simulation of a Rubik’s Cube. He has discussed computer theory with me, yet I do not think that he has taken a computer theory class yet. For him the light bulb of understanding what computer programming is has come on. I just hope the freedom of creativity within the computer programming industry remains flexible long enough for him to flex its limits. Oh, and he installed Linux on his laptop because Windows is obsolete (archaic and useless).

Derek is our youngest. His kindness and wit have always made my heart skip for joy. If he is given any time at all to think about just about anything, he can come up with a humorous twist on it. He created a faux Subway restaurant advertisement featuring Zombies and the catch phrase “Eat Flesh!” OK, maybe you’d have to see it. Currently he is building his creativity confidence at art school in another state. I really like his work. I am not a professional graphic artist or critic, but I have seen “professional” work that is not as good as some of his school work. He has a very good artistic eye. He can show mood and emotion in his work. There is one little sculpture that he told me about that I am dying to see. I’d rather see Derek first, though. I really miss him.

I have been showing my proud grandpa side around here lately. I think the main reason why I can be such a proud grandpa is that I am already proud of my grandson’s father. Owen’s uncles are no slouches either.

It hit me tonight while chatting with Chris and Justin (and missing Derek) that if they were not my sons, they are still men that I would want to have as friends.

I love them.