Fathers Lead the Way and Teach Us to Walk on Our Own
Although it's a bit faded now, there's an old picture that I like to look at on Father's Day. In it, a blond 5-year-old girl stands in a pale red coat, too short in the sleeves, her brown, scuffed cowboy boots planted wide apart on the sunny surface of a bridge. She's holding a fish. Still on the line, the fish is small, but the little girl's grin is so wide that a wad of bubblegum escapes from one side. The image calls to mind memories much more vivid than the photograph …Â
Don’t Drink and Drive … ‘Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah …’
"Don't drink, blah." Don't drink and drive, blah, blah, responsible, blah. No, blah, blah, drugs, blah, blah, blah …" By now, this must be what my teens hear when I talk about substance abuse, as I've talked to them about it since I thought they were old enough to understand, which is, for my daughter, since she was 4 when she asked me if she would die early. Jumping on the opportunity, I said "Don't drink alcohol and do drugs, choose friends who stay away from drinking and drugging, and you should live a long time," I told her.
