My son wrote the following to me during one of his mind escapes last spring during finals week. It was around the idea that the last year of the original Jet Ski design was being released, and it was worthy of some prose.
Dad,
We should strongly consider this… “Well, maybe it’s a little impractical.” No, this is defiantly worth it. This is about chasing your youth, pretending to be Moses by parting the waters with a hullsides, and feeling alive. This is about feeling the wind in your ever-changing-colored hair, tasting the cold water after the first big splash, and blinking in the glaring sun after the hard cut throws your sunglasses into the air. This is about bringing the family together but escaping to an individual adventure. This is about the feeling you get when you are skiing down a slalom course, every weekend during the summer. This is about you. This is about me. This is about what the lake deserves. This about blowing those snotty sailors minds. This about being a man. This is about being a kid. This is about the dream.
Just as much for that elusive dream as for anything that makes sense in this world: Jet Ski.
Son
Alas, we did not buy one of these amazing machines, but we do have a couple of Honda pwc’s, and last weekend he and I spent the better part of a hot summer Texas day on Canyon lake, riding, exploring, ripping, and floating. It was about him and it was about me, and it was one of the best days I have ever spent with him.
We explored up the river until we hit a gravel bank and marveled at the fact that there was no water flow from the river left to fill into the lake. We rode so hard and spun out so much that we turned the contents of our ice chest (in the nose of the ski) to something that could only be described as sploosh. We rode into the marina and sat on the deck eating ceviche while we watched the posers and pros drive their boats in and out. We beached the pwc’s in a cove and floated on our life jackets for 3 hours while we talked about God, girlfriends (his, not mine), school, business ideas, and how much we love being on the water. We finally gave in to the lowering sun and headed back to the ramp. It will be his last time on the water in Texas for a while, as he is headed back to California for his junior year at Cal Poly in a couple of days.
I can only thank God for my experience out of that day. I thank Him for gifting me with an opportunity to raise a son, and for the son that he has become. I thank Him for our common love of the water. I thank Him for the fact that my son now pushes me as much as I push him. I am so thankful that my son loves God, that he loves his family, and that he loves life.
That day was about a dream. I think it was God’s dream for us. Thank you God.