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My son just turned 26 and we took him and his GF out for dinner last night.

The conversation ensued..."Dad, I very much appreciate the nice seats in the booster section but we would really like to sit in the cheap seats with our friends. Maybe someday, like you and mom, we will move up."

I looked at him and his very pretty girlfriend, both bursting with the vitality of youth, and flashed back to when his mom and I were going to FSU games at about his age.

We sat with a bunch of other young folks in the old metal bleacher seats near the end zone. Stomping on the bleachers would sound like the roll of thunder. And we would thunder and scream and roar as the smell of spilled bourbon wafted down the rows. As the piano man said, that song was sweet, and I knew it complete, when I wore a younger man's clothes. I have great seats now, but I wouldn't trade those years in the metal stands for the President's box.

This weekend I will be whistfully looking over at the young crowd where my boy will be yelling, stomping and, I'll wager, sipping bootleg bourbon.

He was right of course. He will be making his own memories....Now, where did I put that old boot flask I used to carry in?

Indeed, the defining moments of our lives when our children surpass us and our expectations. Nicely written, my friend.

I hope, pray actually, that my kids do not act like me at their age. I wasn't the model child.

I do treasure all the time I spent with my dad when I was in my 20's, I didn't have a clue how much I would treasure it then. I wish upon wishes he would have lived long enough to meet my kids. He would have enjoyed them.

I wish I would have had more time with my dad. He passed away when I was 19....he was only 39.

Dossenator wrote:I wish I would have had more time with my dad. He passed away when I was 19....he was only 39.

That is really tough. I had my dad into my early thirties and I think of that as being too short a time. It just goes to show you how lucky you are compared to some people in other situations.

I would like to get married sometime soon, at 39, I don't know if it's in the cards for me. Too much time on the road now (5 days a week).

Derek wrote:I would like to get married sometime soon, at 39, I don't know if it's in the cards for me. Too much time on the road now (5 days a week).

I was 38 when I did it. I really didn't think that I would get married and really didn't even cross my mind, then it just kind of happened. I'm not sorry. Besides my wife, the kids were a pretty cool perk.

Derek wrote:I would like to get married sometime soon, at 39, I don't know if it's in the cards for me. Too much time on the road now (5 days a week).

It is rough brother when you are on the road. And I understand how life goes. But know you may have to make room for true love before it ever finds you! The heart wants what the heart wants...other parts want the parts they want...but the mind always takes the rest of the parts along on its ride. Once your mature, you want a mature woman...and it takes them being married about 3 years for them to wish their man was on the road 5 days a week!

Everyone's paths are so different. I am 39, still crazy pretty...it is ridiculous really...and I have been married since 93 and have 2 kids, the oldest is 1 month short of 17 and the youngest will be 16 in January. I thank God for all of them, and I sometimes ask God, "Seriously???" But if nothing else, they are company, and keep you from having money piling up in the bank and a bunch of wild women running around the house!

Derek wrote:I would like to get married sometime soon, at 39, I don't know if it's in the cards for me. Too much time on the road now (5 days a week).

Actually, being on the road is often the best thing that can happen to a marriage.