Both the children of my body (I have a beloved son by my second marriage) are Millennials, as I understand the term.
I showed them a father who seldom worked less than sixty hours a week, because that's what it took for one income to support the four of us at the time.
I showed them a husband who never failed to put his wife first, whether opening car doors or serving the Christmas turkey.
I showed them a believer who took them to worship as often as they would go.
I showed them how to live debt free on a working man's income, though it sometimes hurt not to take them places and buy them things.
I showed them that a person of confidence and competence can find employment in the worst of times, layoff after layoff.
I demonstrated an integrity that told the boss what he needed to know, whether he wanted to hear it or not, and how to bear a hostile work environment with equanimity and class.
I showed them a pair of hands twenty years older than the man who has used them to help make the world go, every day, all day long, since his adolescence.
I gifted them strong healthy bodies marked by neither holes nor graffiti at the age of 21, by parental mandate.
I am showing them a guy crippled by his parents' mistakes who owns his own problems, blames no one and no thing for the way his own mistakes have played out.
Finally, I showed them a man who could resolve to bury the dead marriage he had grieved for twenty years, and reject at fifty the silly cult nonsense he was taught to believe before he could talk.
What are those two showing me, now that they are thirty-something and blown away on the winds of life? Start with "None of the above."
Even though those Peanuts were first kids when I was. Really boomers is the bad term gets my steam up. Saying we are all the same, hardly. Other than that, spot on, we all control our own.
This was a really good piece. Don't agree with everything that was said, but there was very much food for serious thought. From a retired "boomer" with a degree in math and all his teeth to a millennial historian teach, hope you and your family had a nice Christmas Day.
Both the children of my body (I have a beloved son by my second marriage) are Millennials, as I understand the term.
I showed them a father who seldom worked less than sixty hours a week, because that's what it took for one income to support the four of us at the time.
I showed them a husband who never failed to put his wife first, whether opening car doors or serving the Christmas turkey.
I showed them a believer who took them to worship as often as they would go.
I showed them how to live debt free on a working man's income, though it sometimes hurt not to take them places and buy them things.
I showed them that a person of confidence and competence can find employment in the worst of times, layoff after layoff.
I demonstrated an integrity that told the boss what he needed to know, whether he wanted to hear it or not, and how to bear a hostile work environment with equanimity and class.
I showed them a pair of hands twenty years older than the man who has used them to help make the world go, every day, all day long, since his adolescence.
I gifted them strong healthy bodies marked by neither holes nor graffiti at the age of 21, by parental mandate.
I am showing them a guy crippled by his parents' mistakes who owns his own problems, blames no one and no thing for the way his own mistakes have played out.
Finally, I showed them a man who could resolve to bury the dead marriage he had grieved for twenty years, and reject at fifty the silly cult nonsense he was taught to believe before he could talk.
What are those two showing me, now that they are thirty-something and blown away on the winds of life? Start with "None of the above."
That’s the stuff, sir. Thank you for that.
Bravo and brilliantly stated. Salute, from one millennial to another 🏴☠️ and merry Christmas 🙏
Even though those Peanuts were first kids when I was. Really boomers is the bad term gets my steam up. Saying we are all the same, hardly. Other than that, spot on, we all control our own.
If it doesn’t apply to you, it doesn’t apply to you.
Very nice
Well done brother. Merry Christmas
This was a really good piece. Don't agree with everything that was said, but there was very much food for serious thought. From a retired "boomer" with a degree in math and all his teeth to a millennial historian teach, hope you and your family had a nice Christmas Day.