Just like Grandpa

"In a desperate attempt to stay young forever we have achieved eternal childishness, rather than eternal youth.” Daniel Prokop, author of "Leaving Neverland"

The smile:

When you are from an old Southern family there are a LOT of stories and a few traditions. I heard over and over the coming of age story that his eighteenth birthday my grandfather walked across the lake between his home and general store. He and his father had his first adult beverage.

When my uncle came of age, he took the walk and celebrated the same way. As a child I would stare at the lake and think “It is just a matter of time before I take that walk across the lake and share this rite of passage.”

The day finally came. I spent time visiting with my great grandmother. It was getting close to time to meet my uncle so I left the house and made a b-line for the general store. I stopped at the edge of the lake. I looked at the surface of the lake. I removed my shoes and put a foot in the water. We called it a lake. It was more of a pond, maybe three hundred feet across the middle. I considered my grandfather and uncle were great men, but they couldn’t walk on water. Maybe there is a trial of stones under the water that lead across the water. I stepped a little deeper and felt around with my toes. Only the mush of a red Tennessee mud met my touch. I hitched up my pants leg and took another step. I took a few steps and the water stayed fairly shallow. My confidence was building as I boldly took yet another step. I must have found the ledge because I plunged straight under water. I hadn’t been dunked more thoroughly or quicker when I had been baptized. The shock of going completely under water left me gasping and disoriented for a minute.

I quickly found the shallow ledge of the water’s edge and crawled back to dry land. I was soaked. I was covered with silt and mud. My hair was plastered to my head. I got back to my feet and headed back to my great grandmother’s house. She must have seen me coming because she met me at the front door with a dry towel. “Lordy, honey, “she asked in a concerned voice, “What were you doing?”

“I wanted to walk across the lake to get my first drink as an adult like the other guys,” I explained wiping my face. “They did it on their eighteenth birthday and today is mine.”

She put her hands to her mouth to hold back the laughter, but it came. First a giggle, then a crackle and finally a gut aching roar. She caught her breath and told me, “Honey, they did walk across the lake but they were both born in January.”

 

The ponder:

What rites of passage have you experienced as you have gone through life? What would you consider your first rite of passage?

 

The Fudonshin Challenge:

Exercise	Reps/ Goal
Straight Punches	1610/2000
Knuckle Push-ups	860/2000
Olymipic sit-ups	860/2000
Squat kicks	685/2000
Front kicks	545/2000
Side kicks	470/2000
Back kicks	470/2000
Upper blocks	1145/2000
Downward blocks	1145/2000
Inward blocks	1145/2000
Outward blocks	1145/2000