THE CATS IN THE CRADLE

As is so often the case with me, a thought to write about hits when I hear the words to a song I have heard a thousand times before.
Sal and I are getting ready for a BBQ for her faculty and staff, and about 110 answered the RSVP. Pandora is providing the beat for the work getting ready. Then, JC, (the other JC, Johnny Cash) came on with “The Cats in the Cradle”. I stopped and listened. Damn, I though, that’s me. Well maybe not completely but it did go home. My boys grew up without me around much. Divorce does that sometimes. I didn’t want it or like it. They turned out not “just like me” as the song goes. They are happily married the first time out and getting on well with their lives. They live in distant places, and we see each other infrequently, not enough. They both have very busy and different lives and I am proud of them.

The chance to be the soccer dad and the scout dad and the cry-on-the-shoulder dad passed long ago, and I wish it were otherwise. But it did and as you all know well, you can’t go back. Retirement is fast approaching, and with that we will have some time to go where they live, and maybe hang out for a bit. Not to be intrusive, just to be with family.

My point in putting this out there? A lesson for all you newly childrened families. Do your best to be there always for your kids, and take the time to throw a ball and go for a walk or swim. And if the worst happens and you are separated from them, try to keep close. You never get that time back.

Image: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2620/4167768923_6ee14ec4dc.jpg