My Favorite Son

 

Annie and I were blessed with six sons named Scott, J.B., Bobby, T.J., Andy, and Patrick.  One year and five days after we were wed, Scotty came along so, in all honesty, we don’t remember what it was like not to have kids around…and don’t particularly want to.

People ask me from time to time which boy is my favorite.  One of them has to be, they say.

I usually reply with some form of the old excuse, “They are all special in their own way.”

Today I’m going to spill the beans.  I’m going to tell you the absolute, unvarnished truth about my favorite son.

So strap in and hang on because today the fact comes out.

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Scotty, our oldest son, is amazingly smart.  He does complex mathematics in his head because, well, because he enjoys it.  Once, when he was up at night with his infant daughter, he memorized Pi to the 500^th place…for fun.  He teaches upper level math in high school because it makes life more enjoyable for him.

He is an incredible athlete who has always been good at any sport he tries.  Football and track were his concentration in school, and he dominated them.  But he was great at basketball in pickup games and, when he got into softball after high school he was able to hit the ball and beat it to base consistently.  He’s not only fast, he’s quick too.

Besides being a teacher he coaches track and cross-country running.  The kids love him.

The young man took on parenting with the same enthusiasm he puts into everything he does.  He spends every available waking moment with his wife, Erin, and their kids, Pfiefer and Payden.

I could say so much more about my namesake but there are five others to discuss.

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J.B. is our second-born.  From the moment he opened his eyes for the first time he has taken on life with an enthusiasmn unmatched by nearly anybody I’ve ever met.

Beezer is a math whiz like his older brother.  Also like Scotty he memorized Pi to some incredible length, just for fun.  I couldn’t tell you which of them is better at math but they sometimes sit around when they are home telling each other math jokes.  It’s all over my head.

J.B. took to the outdoors naturally and hunted and fished alongside me with the intelligence and skills of a much older man.

At college he worked full time while making great grades.  Beezer graduated with a degree in engineering while owing nothing to anyone.  He also received the highest signing bonus of anybody in the history of his fraternity.

He and Candi have two girls, Addy and Ally, and their lives revolve around the two beautiful little ladies.

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Bobby was the first born of our twins.  He got over the scare he gave us at birth and grabbed life by the horns.  He’s always been his own man, following his idea of success and nobody else’s.  Like me, he has a talent for drawing and, also like me he has a talent for writing.  Unlike me, he’s really good at both.

His interest in fiction led him to learn costume making.  I defy anyone to tell some of the costumes he has made from the originals he copied from popular movies like Star Wars.

He served in the army in Iraq and Afghanistan and came home to marry Amanda, the love of his life.  Their son, Richard, is another super intelligent kid and shows promise of being, no surprise here, his own man.

Putting his personal desires aside, Bobby returned to the army to keep his family fed and clothed.

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Travis could be referred to as “the other twin” except that the two boys’ birth date is the only thing that qualifies them as twins.  They look nothing alike and they act almost nothing alike.

T.J. stuck it out through early difficulty with his chosen sport, running.  By the time he graduated high school, he was the fastest two-miler our town has ever produced and joined two of his brothers and a friend to destroy the 4×800 meter record.

Last time I checked, he also held a long-distance state record for his age category.

Though he went to college on a track scholarship and made good grades, Travis realized that his passion required a different kind of education.  He is now a high-voltage electrician and father of two.  He and Danielle are raising Emma and John with an enthusiasm that ensures the kids will be wonderful people and great additions to society.

Travis realized a while back that he has another calling.  He has been studying the word of God and opened his heart to being a religious leader…the kind who does the right thing for the right reason.

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Andy came thirteen months after the twins and could have easily been lost in a house filled with five boys aged six and under, except that, well, he is Andy.  He has the brains to make better-than-average grades in school and the physicality to accomplish anything he wants to try.  I don’t think he can pronounce the words, “I can’t do that.”  I know I’ve never heard him say them.

In sports he still holds several school track records in both junior high and high school.  In football he had an arm that could have served him well as a quarterback; the hands and speed to be a receiver; and the strength to go with the speed so he could tackle anyone he wanted after running them down.

Andy chose to teach and coach and has earned distinction at both.  He didn’t hesitate to take on the task of remodeling an old house which he and wife, Madison, lived in for the first couple years of marriage.  They and Harper have since moved out of that house and into a much bigger and nicer one.  Their lives are happy and productive and they will do well at whatever they try, as Andy has always done.

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Patrick was our last attempt to get a daughter.  We couldn’t have missed by more.  Although seven years separate him from his nearest brother, he’s never backed down from anything or anyone.

When some of the brothers formed a team to compete in a marathon relay and one runner had to cancel at the last minute, Patrick not only stepped up, but he far exceeded expectations.  Although his goal was to try not to lose too much time for the team, he actually increased their lead over the competition, despite being at least two years younger than any other competitor in the event. They won the competition several years and, at last check, held the record…and they hold that record as a team made up entirely of brothers.

Peanut earned academic honors in school and has the brains to do anything he wants.  He acquired two classic Mustangs (a ’65 and a ’66) and even as we speak, is in the process of rebuilding the motor in the ’65…for fun.  He works at Wal-Mart and attends college with an eye toward becoming an engineer.’

Will he become an engineer?  I don’t know.  I’ll tell you this however.  Patrick will achieve absolutely anything he sets his mind to.  Guaranteed.

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So, after telling you all that, I’m reminded that I promised to tell you which of my sons is my favorite.

The fact of the matter is, and I realized it again as I was writing this, I noticed long ago that my favorite son is whichever one I’m talking about at the time.  I couldn’t be prouder of my boys and they have surpassed any dream I ever had for them.

Now you know who my favorite son is.

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Finally, to all you fathers out there, the ones who are truly fathers, not the ones who think just making a life is fatherhood…

Happy Fathers Day!

 

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