An Epiphany

Last night, as I got ready for bed, I had an epiphany.

I thought back to when I was 16 years old and 18 years old, the same age as Phillip and Jordan are now. I thought about my competencies and about my dad. I thought about how, as a teenager, there really wasn't anything I was better at than my father and there really wasn't anything that I knew more about than he did. Oh, sure, I probably had a much better knowledge of popular music, TV shows and movies, but that was about the only area where I could top him.

Then I thought about Jordan and Phillip and realized that there are many things they do better than I and many subjects about which they know more than I do. And, no, we're not just talking about games at the arcade or on the Wii.

On Sunday, the driver's side window on the Durango finally gave out. It's given us a hard time occasionally ever since we got it but this time it really did refuse to roll up when you flipped the switch. Time for a trip to the mechanic (i.e., time to actually find a mechanic here in Fort Wayne). No. Jordan wanted to see if he could fix it for us. He took the door apart. He fiddled with the switches and wires. He went and bought a voltometer to test the wiring. He bought a motor at Napa Auto Parts and tried to install it. Now this story doesn't end in triumph . . . when all was said and done, he couldn't fix it and we still have to find a mechanic (and try to get our money back on that motor!) but the point is that he actually had a clue about how to work on the car, something I couldn't have done at 18 or 48. Heck, I tried to take Melody's temperature with that voltometer!

Last summer, the boys built a fence in our backyard in Klamath Falls. It took me seven years to finally leave town so that they could give it a try.

They know how to play the tuba . . . the flute . . . percussion. I know how to play the radio. Well, actually, I can play the radio but I don't think I can play an iPod.



Phillip's the one we ask when there are computer problems to be addressed. When I got my new cell phone a few weeks ago, he told me how to set up the quick dial settings. When our DVD burner came in the mail, he figured out how it worked. Whenever our wireless network goes down, he's the one we yell for . . . or at.

They're both way better at math than I ever was or ever will be. They have better SAT scores. They have better hair.

Jordan helped install our new wood floor in the kitchen. He got our friend Eric's chainsaw working and chopped up the branches from our trees into little pieces of firewood. And there's no doubt that Jordan climbs trees better than I do.

Phillip now has his learner's permit and has started driving again for the first time since we moved to Indiana. Jordan's been driving for well over a year now. If nothing else, I think I'm still a better driver than either of them. But I suppose even that will change someday.

I'm not saying that they know more about everything than I do, or that they're better at everything than I am. No way. But they do top me in a number of areas, and I don't think that's something I could have said about my dad when I was their age.

By the way, please don't let either of them read this post. They're insufferable enough as it is.