Got an urgent phone call from The Boy yesterday. The serious tone in his voice immediately captured my attention. So much so that the ribbing I was going to give him about Little One kissing a duck while feeding them out at Twin Lakes that very morning would obviously have to wait.
He said, “Dad, I need your advice about what to do.”
I must say, hearing those words made me feel good. Not because The Boy was asking for advice in his time of difficulty, but because he had asked ME for it.
Somewhere between changing his diapers and his 27th birthday, The Boy, he done grew up. Now with his having a family of his own (a wife and two wonderful little girls) and a great job, I thought dear old Dad here would be out of the picture for good. Seems that’s not to be the case after all.
Pacing the living room floor, I listened intently to every word as he explained the problem he found himself in. As he explained the options he’d come up with, I paced my way down the hallway and into the kitchen just waiting for my opportunity to jump in and bestow years of wisdom to help solve his problem.
Now normally, I keep my pacing to the living room, but The Boy was a bit long-winded (wonder where he got that from!), and I needed a snack.
When he finally finished and asked for my opinion of what he should do, I thought back on my time growing up at 110 Flamingo Street. Both Mom and Dad gave us five kids all kinds of advice during those seven years. Quickly I ran over some of their guidance in my mind to see if any of it fit The Boy’s situation.
Dad said, “If you get knocked down, always get back up.” Although good instruction if in a fight, this advice didn’t fit. “Never borrow or lend money to your brothers” were also great words of wisdom from Dad. It had absolutely nothing to do with The Boy’s situation, but it was still good advice nonetheless.
Guess if I actually heeded it, Twin Brother Mark still wouldn’t owe me ten dollars from when we shared a bedroom at 110 Flamingo Street. Just the interest on it alone for the last 50 years could pad my retirement quite nicely.
Mom’s advice was also extremely helpful. She said, “Don’t ever pull a girl’s hair,” and “Be seen but not heard.” She also said, “Stop making that face at your Sister or your face will freeze that way.”
And finally, Mom said, “God gave you one mouth and two ears for a reason. He means for you to listen twice as much as you talk.” All of this was and still is excellent advice but wasn’t going to help The Boy out of his predicament.
Ultimately, the advice I gave The Boy actually didn’t come from me. It came from The Wife. Many years ago, when I was also facing a similar work situation to the one The Boy is currently facing, The Wife told me, “Sweetie, you’ll never go wrong by doing what is right.”
It’s the same advice I gave The Boy – minus the word “Sweetie,” of course.
[Rick Ryckeley, who lives in Senoia, served as a firefighter for more than two decades and has been a weekly columnist since 2001. His email is storiesbyrick@gmail.com. His books are available at www.RickRyckeley.com.]
