Sunday September 4th, 2011 - Fox Lake, IL It’s time to put away the white pants for another year. Where did the summer go? It was hectic for me with all my health issues, but that seems like years ago now. I really do feel like a new and better person in every aspect of life. I’m rebooting myself and it continues. My grandpa used to talk about how life isn’t about the mistakes someone makes, we all make those, it’s a matter of what’s done to correct them. Then, it’s about what the person does with the knowledge that came with the experiences. That’s what makes our legacy. In my eyes, Gramps was the best. He was a combination of Yoda and Henny Youngman with his constant waterfall of wisdom wrapped in wisecracks. He was a ‘wisdomedian’. It still sticks with me, thirty years later. He’s been gone almost twice as long as I had him in my life, but I still live by many of the principles he taught me then. His influence lives on. My father was a different story. He used to say what a rotten father Gramps was to him, and it might be true. I’ve heard tales of and seen for myself people who were mediocre or worse parents turn it around and do better with their grandchildren. They learned from the experience of being a parent and acted on it, much to the disappointment of the children. My friend Scot Wickmann does a very funny comedy bit about taking his son to see his parents and the kid doesn’t want to eat his vegetables. His mother asks the kid if he wants some ice cream instead. Scot asks in stunned amazement where that choice was when he was a kid, and it’s a very funny routine. That’s probably because so many can relate to it. I know for a fact Gramps tried to make it up to my father. He used to take each of us out for a weekly breakfast on separate days to get one on one time with each of us. I feel sorry for my uncle, who never worked his way into the rotation for whatever reason. That’s life. Gramps used to speak often about how I was the mature one of the two, and he actually looked forward to meeting with me. I was barely out of high school and he said I was on a path to build myself a good life while my father used to piss and moan about everything. It all fell apart when Gramps died. My father and I were at each other’s throats, and we never did patch it up. I made a lot of stupid mistakes, and had nobody to take over being the wise mentor Gramps was. It got me into trouble, and it’s taken years to work through the anger issues and figure things out for myself. I wish I had a ‘do over’. Don’t we all? It took a long time, but I feel I’m starting to hit my stride. FINALLY. I’ve screwed up a lot of things, but now it all seems to be coming together at once and a functional human is emerging. The lessons learned were painful, but now they’re paying off on a daily basis. I have to say, I think I’m actually happy. I’m not where I think I could be, but I’m on the way. I have a rich supply of quality friends and some exciting projects on the horizon and I look forward to getting up every day. I’m in good health and spirits too. That’s success.
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