He will be 43 this week. Hasn’t had an
easy life. A happy normal child that went off the rails within weeks of
receiving multiple vaccinations at 3 ½, he has struggled with poor
communication and interpersonal skills. Near photographic memory. Can do
complex equations in his head. Not mean or aggressive but a berserker when angered.
Last DUI arrest (ten years ago, thankfully) it took six Denver cops to arrest
him.
He has two passions, reading and music. He
reads widely.
Somewhere around the 6th grade he glommed onto the
complete works of Shakespeare I had given his mother as a gift . He spent a
couple of months reading all the book.
One of my favorite memories around that
time was downtown Seattle for the Seafair Torchlight Parade
The Seafair “Pirates” work the crowd
giving candy to the kids and propositioning the ladies while waving cutlasses
and talking salty. One headed our way.
Erik took two steps forward and assumed his martial arts stance. The pirate
quickly veered away with an astounded look on his face. Erik wasn’t joking. He
was prepared to defend us.
His music interest is metal, heavy,
black, whatever. He writes several blogs and has a worldwide audience. Admittedly,
it is a niche of a niche but he is sent music to review from all over the
world. His main blog, OccultBlackMetalZine, is on my sidebar. No, I don’t
understand any of it.
My three sons are very different people
from each other. What they have in common is a work ethic, they will not steal,
financially prudent, and they live their lives in a way to not harm others.
From an early age they were taught not to
tolerate bullies, big or small. If we have a family motto it is, "Don’t fuck
with me or I will fuck you up”. Their mother was in complete agreement and we
always had their backs with the inevitable conflicts with authorities, school
and civic.
I should add, their mother is a 5’4”
first generation Norwegian (ya sure, you betcha) who can go from a sweet Betty
White to an insane berserker quickly. I never saw her back down, ever.
I’m proud of Erik and how he has turned
his life around. Something like 15 months sober, five years on his job, and
supports his son.
Eighteen to thirty five, he fucked up like
a SP5 at a Viet Cong Reveille on a regular basis. Three DUIs. Married a woman
crazier than him (no kids thankfully). Lived
for awhile in San Diego.
Along the way earned a Bachelor Degree.
I think every parent would like to wrap
their kids in cotton padding and keep them from hurt. You can’t do it. You can
be there for them when they crash and burn but it is their life to lead. I’m
glad they have been part of my life. I just accept the whole experience and
keep on keeping on.
12 comments:
Yes, it would be nice to have children who do precisely what you tell them to do. Mine CLEARLY do not. One early instruction is, "decide among yourselves who will work for an airline so that I can get free tickets". They laughed at me. LAUGHED. So much for commons presence with the girls.
Don't know if I could handle a daughter. Kind of like my ex. You can always tell a Norwegian, you just can't tell them much.
As a Norwegian myself, I can't say that I agree with your characterization of them as a whole. Once you get a majority of them to vote in a block, they all want socialism - look at Minnesota. An entire state of folk, who when asked to vote for the Democrat, answer 'ya sure, you betcha.'
I like most Norwegians and their willingness to laugh at themselves.
I am so proud of my nephew. He doesn't talk much, but when he does, he doesn't waste words or breath and you know exactly what is on his mind. Is fiercely loyal to his cat and staying sober. He does walk his own path and that is how it should be.
Sisty
You sum him up nicely.
I don't understand his music either, but I do admire his loyalty to those he cares about. It is not easy to turn your life around in an environment such as I understand his music world to be. My ignorance I guess, but do know it was not easy to change. And happy future birthday to Eric.
He sounds like an amazing person.
I'm sure quite a lot of his grit comes from you, too.
Coffeypot
I attended a tavern show where he was performing. Weird looking crowd who were completely respectful toward me. Changed my thinking.
Ami
More like stubbornness, I'm afraid.
That he's turned things around is a tribute to you. Kids will be kids, until they realize the adults really DID try to instill certain ethics in them.
Thank you. It has been a process.
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