I was warned. The
warning came from both family members as well as friends. The warning
was meant with the best of intentions. They all warned us our oldest
son, Troy who recently became a teenager was had crossed that thirteenth
birthday milestone where everything supposedly changes. Though I have
dreamed about stopping time and enjoying what we have right now, I admit
I enjoy seeing him and all of our children change. Over just the last
year or so, I have seen lots of changes in Troy.
Troy
is texting more and he is a bit overly interested in Instagram, which
makes me wonder just a little, why we allowed him to get it. But he is
getting great grades and continues to do well in other areas of his
life. He also continues to be a good role model for his two little
bothers, Raymond and Ryan. But between youth athletics, school, and our
ever changing social media demands, he has allot on his plate. I could
see how a few of his responsibilities might fall off like yellow kernels
of corn and land silently on the table.
When
his face was again buried in his I-phone this past week as he sent
Instagrams and texts, I told him what my dad said to us seven kids
frequently, "In life you will find your true friends can be counted on
two hands or less". All our boys laughed, and looked at me like I was
crazy, just like when my dad told me. It's a tough concept to grasp
when your a teenager. As they explained to me, "Dad do you know how
many followers we have, how many likes I just got on a picture I posted?
I told them they all probably have a heck of allot of friends. They
smiled.
I
then said the term, "followers" is pretty interesting. I tried to
explain there are allot of people out there in this world who are,
"followers", but not many who will stand by you and fight shoulder to
shoulder when storm clouds gather and your seas turn rough. Many of
the people you had thought were your friends will turn their back, flee,
or pretend your ship is not taking on water. It is when you can tell
the difference between true friends from followers. I went back to my
analogy I have discussed before, that there is just not as many "long
ball hitters" in this life as you wish there were.
Back
to the point at hand. As I was walking last week with Troy across Del
Norte High School campus approaching the stadium, he whispered or said
kind of softly from the corner of his mouth, "drop back dad". I looked
at him cross eyed as we both continued walking. He repeated it again
and discreetly waived with his right hand trying to signal me to drop
back like he was a football corner back and I was the free safety.
Troy finally gave
up getting me to fall back and as we got closer, I was mischievous. I
put my left arm around his shoulder, pulled him close as I rubbed my
fingers through his thick, beautiful hair and hollered out nice and loud
so no one could miss it, including the girls, "Troy you are a great
son". Troy could not help but laugh before pulling away and jogging
over to chat with his friends or followers. Only time will tell.
Any kids that tease him are likely kids that wished in a small way their parents did the same.
Enjoy your week!
Ray & Theresa Shay
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