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.
