I don’t know what anyone is going to get out of me writing this blog. I’m just a stay at home dad who loves his son. He’s a teenager, so of course he’s bound to do some stupid things now and again. He and his best friend Jay, who is like another son to me, recently turned 17. It was a special birthday for them, since it’s the last one they’ll spend together without the worries of college and adult life beyond.
The party my wife and Jay’s mother threw at our home was great. It always is. A pool party, all of their friends – even girls this time – and plenty of food. But with good sometimes comes heartbreak. I know I’m not supposed to give away too much here, but let’s just say the event rocked everyone’s world and Turner’s the most. He’s losing so much and even though I’m his dad, I can’t help him.
I want to help him and love him and support him and get him through this upheaval a kid his age shouldn’t have to deal with. But I can’t. There’s just no way. Add to that my own worries about it and our lives are just a mess.
But you want to know more about me, right? We won’t reach all the way back to childhood, but I was born and grew up in Glass. A lot of its residents did. Pam and I got married shortly out of college and we had Turner in what seemed like the blink of an eye. He’s our only child. We agreed on the ‘one and done,’ especially once Pam’s father handed us the reins of the family insurance business. There were some old-fashioned requirements he had, like passing the business on to a male heir, but Pam was his only child. He decided he wouldn’t give the business to her while he was alive, unless she married. I don’t want to think she married me because of this, but it seemed just days after signing our marriage certificate I was signing the paperwork to put the business in my and Pam’s names. That’s other backstory and I’m getting ahead of what I wanted to talk about.
While the business puttered along at a steady pace, I began my psychology practice. Pam got pregnant and we turned to daily outside childcare when Turner was born and while I ran my practice and she ran the insurance business. She had plans for the business. She wanted to go national, and eventually international. She and I spread the company nationally, and have a reach in 28 states. There are boring ins and outs you don’t want to hear about. The international expansion was where I had to step back. I didn’t know the first thing. As I said, Pam had a plan. She assembled a mostly trustworthy team and got to business. We’re on four of the seven continents.
Turner became school age, and our lives changed again. When Turner showed promise in swimming, our world, or rather mine, started to revolve around it. Meets, morning and afternoon practices, travel, and all the rest was a big joob. My psychology practice was struggling, and I opted to step away in favor of raising Turner. I don’t know what I’d do without him. He’s a great kid. He’s starting college along with his senior year of high school – how awesome is that?
Thanks for listening. I’m really working through my own problems at the moment. But Turner, he’s the best. I love our little town and our life here.
– Brad