Decided to share... (Part 2)

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

This same son who spoke those memorable lines in Part 1 also gave me something to remember, thus:

On the morning of my 44th birthday as we lay in bed I called him into our room just after he woke up.

I put my arm around him and said, "Hey, old Dad looks pretty good for being 61 years old dosn't he?"

With a grin on his face (there was Dad joking around again) he pulled away slightly and turning to look at me said, "Aww Dad, I know that you are really 51 years old today."

Ugh....

[ken mcclure]

:D :D :D

Sons are special. Mine had a part-time job as a stock clerk at a department store. Having finished a list of duties, he waited in the break room for the supervisor to return and give him another list.

The supervisor came in and was miffed that Alex was just sitting and waiting. "You sure don't do any more than you have to, do you?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yeah," replied Alex, "but it all evens out because you don't pay me any more than you have to."

Alex worked there until the store eventually closed.

[MJC]

My son and I were canoeing on one of those "silver spring" rivers in the Ocala National Forest in Florida. All the way down the river, he kept turning to me and saying "Dad, I really want to see an alligator." Well, Dad would just as soon not see an alligator, but...

We were paying complete attention to an overhanging deadfall while going around a curve with a back eddy. Coming upriver and around the bend are two guys in some kind of uniforms. They holler out to us "Look out for that gator behind you! - He's a mean 'un!" Two heads whip around just in time to see a huge gator (is 19' an exaggeration?) slide gracefully into the water and swim our way. The canoe, being a canoe, naturally heads us directly for the entangling branches of the deadfall. Dad is thinking about several other times, in gator less northern waters, he's tipped a canoe while entangled. My son is looking for the gator and gets close to being pulled out of the canoe by a branch.

Bill Mason and those other great solo paddlers got nothin on me for the next 60 seconds.

All the way down the rest of the river, my son's saying - "I saw a gator - wait til I tell the guys back home."

The entire incident reinforced my (Episcopalian) belief in divine providence. What are the odds that the only gator on that river, which we wouldn't have seen, is pointed out to us by two guys paddling up river? God sometimes grants the wishes of children, but it sure helps Him if their dads take them somewhere the wish can be granted.

[NormMessinger]

Actually I think God saw an opportunity to feed one of his lesser creatures and you thwarted His will.

But what a wonderful experience once things turn out okay. Neat!

[Phil Young]

My 10 yo was asked at school last week to list the 5 most significant events in his life so far-

1 Living in Papua New Guinea (3rd world shit hole)for 3 years
2 Sailing home from PNG in our boat
3 Skippering his own boat in weekend races
4 Becoming a sixer in cub scouts
5 Saving up to buy his own bike

I'm happy with that!