Bambino numero uno con la varicella.
As parents we are loath to admit this,
But our first children hold a special place.
In our hearts.
In our minds.
In our imaginations.
For men, if the first is a son, they become
the gift of maturation. In them,
the manchild and man to be, we
see ourselves, all we were, and
all we must become.
It’s sobering.
You do what you can and
weather the chickenpox, the rat house, the divorce, and new life.
You took steel drum class in high school,
instead of my choice of Latin.
But took Italian in college. I so like that.
We grow older and into our own selves.
In ways and places no one could have predicted.
And we leave, and come back, and meet up.
And we always like what we see.
Alla casa de le topi.
In Arizona e in Portland, Oregon.