Not a Week off.

Welcome back. No I did not take a week off. Instead I spent in in deep introspective thought. You see, my offspring turns fourteen in just a few short hours and as I write this I am listening not to the voices in my head but instead to the wonderful, head-banging music of Motorhead. Why? Simple, I’m trying to drown out all the thought of my daughter becoming a second year teenager.

            My daughter, the light of my life and the progeny of my loins, I love her more than I love my cigars and riding my Harley for endless hours down twisting and turning roads as the leaves of the trees fall gently to the ground. It seems that with each passing summer for the past few years my life seems to become more and more worrisome as I ponder what direction she will take. Will she rebel like I did or will she follow a more complacent course of life? I don’t know. I know from our brief conversations she has a slight rebellious streak towards teachers and maybe even authority. But does this mean she will turn out to be an outcast or just a free thinker?

            I don’t know but I hope it is the latter and not the former. Free thinking is a good thing but blind following is a bad thing. I hope she has the balance between the two. Especially since her mother and I are opposites in so many ways. I hope she received the best from the both of us and not any of the worst. Of course, I want her to succeed in whatever it is she decides to do with her life but I also do not want her to believe that complacent acceptance is an acceptable course of life.

            As of right now, my home is filled with screaming, giggling teenagers who think running rampantly through all the rooms is a fine past time. I can’t blame them. I yearn for that sort of innocence and bravery. Yes, she is, at least in my mind, still full of innocence and bravery. Although from what I know from my youth and of course from speaking with her, that is not necessarily true. But, I think that as a parent, lying to yourself, comes with the territory. I’m not saying I lie to myself about her actions and what she does, I just like to think that over the years her mother and I have instilled in her a decent respect for herself and the people she comes into contact with.

            But, I digress.

            I love my child and I would never wish for another. I only want what is best for her and for her to be truly happy in whatever endeavor that draws her attention in the future. I just wish she had a better taste in music, but then again, don’t all parents want that for their children?

            Bragging time.

            First, and foremost, my daughter has rarely let anything stop her from doing something she wants to do. She is a cheerleader and last year, before the new principal of her school shut down the Student Council, she was a member of said Student Council. She has also stepped out of her comfort zone to go above and beyond in school projects, sometimes at the ridicule of her classmates. She has a passion for helping others and rarely have I seen her turn a blind eye of someone whom she could help. Even if the person in question has hurt her in the past. When her feelings are hurt, by a friend or even a parent, she cries and then communicates easily as to why her feelings were hurt in the first place. She has a passion for reading and learning and if she doesn’t understand something she seeks out the answer in whatever form that may take.

            These qualities, leadership, empathy, bravery, inquisitiveness and communication are all skills that I am proud of. Oh, and I forgot one other thing, she is a cheerleader and in dance class, which those skills she must have gotten from her mother because I couldn’t dance my way out of a wet paper bag let alone would I ever be caught, as a teen that is, at an organized sporting event cheering for people I had no connection with.

            Yes, I am proud of her and I love her with every cell in this corporeal body I have. And for her fourteenth birthday I wish her the happiest of times with friends she loves and cares for.

            Happy Birthday Goose, you will never cease to amaze me and you have been my true North since the day you were born.