The Ravages of Time Part 2
Last week I wrote about the forces of time on manmade structures, this week I think I'll talk about those same forces on man himself and those around him. As I mentioned last week myself, my daughter Rianna and her beau Adam were on our way up North to Whiskey Creek when we drove past Fern School and I experienced a flashback. I never mentioned though why we were headed to Whisky Creek in the first place.
Adam and Ri have been hanging out together most every day for the last 3 years or so. Like most couples they've had their moments, but they always seem to get things straightened out and go on. They met during a school trip to Tennessee, where as members of the "Interact" club they donated a week of their life to go down to the "volunteer" state to help clean up an area devastated by tornadoes. Upon Ri's arrival back home it didn't take too long to realize that some cosmic event had happened during the time she was gone and it wasn't long before we met Adam. Since that day there hasn't been too many days we haven't seen him and he's really become part of the extended family.
So, with high school graduation coming up in a couple months for Ri and college wrapping up soon for Adam it wasn't too big of a surprise when they told us that they had decided to get married. Whoa! said I, so soon?? and this I said before they changed the date from late summer 2007 to late summer 2006! Whoa! again said I, what's the hurry?? A question that any self-respecting dad would be compelled to ask...especially one that didn't get married until a couple months before his 30th birthday.......but I guess everyone is different and some mature quicker / sooner than others. So, with that in mind they'd ask me to come with them to Whiskey Creek to take some pictures of them to be used as engagement pics and also to see the place where they had decided to have the ceremony.
Now Ri isn't my first child to get married, my oldest daughter Jennette joined the Arny after high school and set off to see the world and get some money saved for college, but somewhere along the way, while she was stationed in Hanau Germany, she ran into Eric and one thing seemed to lead to another and before we knew it, or before we even had a chance to get used to the idea, heck, before we'd even had a chance to meet him, he'd married our oldest daughter. Not only that, but they then informed us that we would be grandparents before the end of 2005! Oh man, Here I was, just getting used to the idea of kids leaving home and now all of a sudden I was being informed that I was no longer just a parent...I was a Grand Parent! Ryan, my first grandchild, is now about 7 months old (Born 9/16/05) and although I've seen a ton of pictures of him I've yet to meet him, or his dad for that matter, in person. That should change soon I hope as they're suppose to be coming back to the states in May of this year and will be stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. A nice day and a half motorcycle ride from Michigan :-)
More about the oldest daughter at a later date. Right now I want to talk about being a grandfather. Like I've said before the last 20 or so years have kinda slipped by while we were busy with all that's involved in raising 3 kids. It's only been the last couple years that I've been able to catch my breath and look around to see what's changed since I was footloose and fancy free. This being a Grandfather is still kind of an abstract idea for me, not having seen the little critter yet, or done anything Grandfatherly with him, but even though we've yet to meet I'm pretty sure we'll get along when we do. As much as I hate to admit it, I've mellowed a bit since my 20's and for someone who was a confirmed bachelor back in those days it's pretty amazing to be sitting here now, at 53, and be a husband, father and a Grandfather. The funny thing is that I'm Ok with it. Do I feel like a grandfather? Hell no, I still do most everything I used to do in my 20's, only slower and less frequently. I still ride a motorcycle, still go to Rock and Roll concerts ( John Mellencamp in South Bend on the 18th of this month) and still dance around with the headphones on in the early morning hours. I don't see myself as the standard grandfather type that was around when I was a munchkin, but I do hope I'll be a good one and that any kids my kids bring into this world will like to come and visit from time to time. I'll do what I can to show 'em a good time and maybe that'll keep me a tad bit younger for a little bit longer.
To wrap this up and show those timelines I thought it'd be enlightening to put a pic of myself at 23 in here, alongside a pic of me at 52, along with a pic of Ri at 4 (that made it into the local visitors guide) and a pic of her and Adam taken at whisky Creek two weeks ago. Also, a shot of the grandchild that makes me smile. I guess we've all gotten older together and with any luck we'll continue to get older. I'd hate to stop now when it's just starting to get real interesting.
TC
Adam and Ri have been hanging out together most every day for the last 3 years or so. Like most couples they've had their moments, but they always seem to get things straightened out and go on. They met during a school trip to Tennessee, where as members of the "Interact" club they donated a week of their life to go down to the "volunteer" state to help clean up an area devastated by tornadoes. Upon Ri's arrival back home it didn't take too long to realize that some cosmic event had happened during the time she was gone and it wasn't long before we met Adam. Since that day there hasn't been too many days we haven't seen him and he's really become part of the extended family.
So, with high school graduation coming up in a couple months for Ri and college wrapping up soon for Adam it wasn't too big of a surprise when they told us that they had decided to get married. Whoa! said I, so soon?? and this I said before they changed the date from late summer 2007 to late summer 2006! Whoa! again said I, what's the hurry?? A question that any self-respecting dad would be compelled to ask...especially one that didn't get married until a couple months before his 30th birthday.......but I guess everyone is different and some mature quicker / sooner than others. So, with that in mind they'd ask me to come with them to Whiskey Creek to take some pictures of them to be used as engagement pics and also to see the place where they had decided to have the ceremony.
Now Ri isn't my first child to get married, my oldest daughter Jennette joined the Arny after high school and set off to see the world and get some money saved for college, but somewhere along the way, while she was stationed in Hanau Germany, she ran into Eric and one thing seemed to lead to another and before we knew it, or before we even had a chance to get used to the idea, heck, before we'd even had a chance to meet him, he'd married our oldest daughter. Not only that, but they then informed us that we would be grandparents before the end of 2005! Oh man, Here I was, just getting used to the idea of kids leaving home and now all of a sudden I was being informed that I was no longer just a parent...I was a Grand Parent! Ryan, my first grandchild, is now about 7 months old (Born 9/16/05) and although I've seen a ton of pictures of him I've yet to meet him, or his dad for that matter, in person. That should change soon I hope as they're suppose to be coming back to the states in May of this year and will be stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. A nice day and a half motorcycle ride from Michigan :-)
More about the oldest daughter at a later date. Right now I want to talk about being a grandfather. Like I've said before the last 20 or so years have kinda slipped by while we were busy with all that's involved in raising 3 kids. It's only been the last couple years that I've been able to catch my breath and look around to see what's changed since I was footloose and fancy free. This being a Grandfather is still kind of an abstract idea for me, not having seen the little critter yet, or done anything Grandfatherly with him, but even though we've yet to meet I'm pretty sure we'll get along when we do. As much as I hate to admit it, I've mellowed a bit since my 20's and for someone who was a confirmed bachelor back in those days it's pretty amazing to be sitting here now, at 53, and be a husband, father and a Grandfather. The funny thing is that I'm Ok with it. Do I feel like a grandfather? Hell no, I still do most everything I used to do in my 20's, only slower and less frequently. I still ride a motorcycle, still go to Rock and Roll concerts ( John Mellencamp in South Bend on the 18th of this month) and still dance around with the headphones on in the early morning hours. I don't see myself as the standard grandfather type that was around when I was a munchkin, but I do hope I'll be a good one and that any kids my kids bring into this world will like to come and visit from time to time. I'll do what I can to show 'em a good time and maybe that'll keep me a tad bit younger for a little bit longer.
To wrap this up and show those timelines I thought it'd be enlightening to put a pic of myself at 23 in here, alongside a pic of me at 52, along with a pic of Ri at 4 (that made it into the local visitors guide) and a pic of her and Adam taken at whisky Creek two weeks ago. Also, a shot of the grandchild that makes me smile. I guess we've all gotten older together and with any luck we'll continue to get older. I'd hate to stop now when it's just starting to get real interesting.
TC
posted by Tom Eckels at 11:30 PM
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