Questions from Yesterday, Part 2

Steph also asked, "Who's your favorite author and why?"

Well, that changes from time to time. The ones that generally stay at the top are Kurt Vonnegut (because he is a brilliant wordsmith), Douglas Coupland (his worldview is a great deal like mine in that he's a realist) and Stephen King (because, even though he is entirely too wordy, he can tell a story like nobody else).

Steph's third question was, "Since he died so young, did your father take on a sort of hero status in your mind and how do you cope with that in relation to your own children? (living up to the hero, etc.)

I can say with absolute certainty that my dad was never elevated to "hero status" in my mind. By the time I was 14 and the shock wore off, there were some realities about my father that came to light. For example, after his father-in-law died he went into a deep depression which led to several behaviors which certainly made him all too human to me.

However, he was a hero in the sense that he loved his wife even when she was unlovely, he spent an embarrassing amount of time with his children, he didn't take his blue-collar steel worker job too seriously (some would say bordering on not serious enough) and he laughed a lot. He drank a beer every day after work (playing me in one-on-one in the driveway, and him not spilling the beer was his handicap. He never lost. He never spilt, either) and he coached little league and even helped me out when I quit basketball and got into hockey. He took me hunting and fishing, which I detested, so he stopped and took me to football games. He taught me to water ski and pulled us on inner tubes. He gave me a very happy childhood for 13 years...which is plenty heroic, if you ask me.

I guess the only way I "cope" in relation to my own children is that I go overboard with wanting them to know me. I felt like I never really knew my dad because just about the age you get to do that, he died. I knew a lot about my dad, and I knew what he liked to do, but I never knew him to the degree I think I would've liked. So, I try to help my kids with that.

Steph finally asked, "What's your favorite fruit?"

The apple. It's a classic.

Lu asked, "Are you sure you really want to "play" with the big kids?"

Yes. Absolutely. Simply because I think the big kids want that, too. The same principles apply to working with adults that apply to students...and I think the better question is are the big kids sure they want to play with me?

I mean, my former students will tell you that I've never been easy on them, I've challenged them and pushed them and provoked them...even if that wasn't the easiest way to go. I take the role of discipleship extremely seriously...and the biggest difference between adult and teenagers is that teenagers admit pretty freely the limits of their knowledge and ability, which makes them ultimately more teachable. So, I'll have to learn more about how to stretch adults out of their comfort zones in a way that isn't oft-putting, but yes, I really do want to play with the big kids.