I Am a Son

I am a son.

I can’t say that I was the best son in the world.  I certainly was not the model son.  I made mistakes along the way.  Yes, at times I was disobedient and disrespectful.  I was also an adolescent.  Yes, disobedience and disrespect got me into trouble on occasion.  On more than one occasion it got me into more trouble than what I thought I deserved.  Please don’t think that I made it my life’s ambition to cause trouble.  It’s just that I was far from perfect.

In spite of the occasional disobedience and disrespect, I loved my parents because they first loved me.  There is a deep and almost hidden message in that last statement.  The bottom line is that they loved me and I knew it.  Like so many children I didn’t really understand how deep that love was until I reached adulthood.  Actually, it may have been some time after I reached adulthood before I understood how much they loved me.

As a son I was the recipient of many things.  While “things” were nice when I was young I came to appreciate the fact that those “things” came at a price.  Oh, no, they didn’t come at a price to me.  They came at a price for me.  Those things came at a price of sacrifice and that sacrifice was a symbol of love they had for me.  I didn’t fully understand that as a youth, but I always understood that they were not trying to buy my love.

As their son I received a great inheritance.  Yes, when my parents passed away I received an inheritance from their estate, which thankfully was meager.  I received an even greater inheritance from them long before they died.  I received a heritage of honor and respect among the people who knew, lived with, and worked with my parents and with my ancestors.  Indeed, I was born of goodly parents, and grandparents, and great-grandparents.  I come from good stock—patriots, veterans, laborers, mothers, homemakers.  They were farmers and coal miners and assembly line workers and clergy.  They fought in just about every war America has been involved in.  One of my ancestors was among the first settlers in Jamestown.  I stand on the shoulders of those who have gone on before me.

A time came when my parents could no longer adequately care for each other or themselves.  That is when the call of caretaker came full cycle.  I loved them because they first loved me.

I may have been disobedient and disrespectful at times.  I know there were times that my actions disappointed them.  I can’t say that I was the best son in the world.  I tried to make up for those times.

I know that not all sons and daughters can say what I am about to say, for which I am truly sorry.  Nonetheless, I am a son and I am loved.  Because I am a son I was given many nice things at great sacrifice.  I was given instructions to help me in life.  I was given a proud heritage.  I was given a home that served as a refuge from the world.

Yes, I was born of goodly parents.  I am a son.