RichardS
New Member
OK......why this thread? (BTW, I did a search to see if a thread like this already existed and didn't find one.....if I missed it, maybe a Mod can just move this post into that thread.)
I just finished reading the AWESOME thread about "What we do for a living" and it made for some FANTASTIC reading and insight into the lives of our members.
You guys, each and every one of you (ok, ok, some more than others, LOL!) have very interesting, some amazing, professions!
I can no longer define myself by my profession (not saying that doing so is a bad thing.....what's wrong with saying "I'm a butcher", or "I'm a baker, or, "I'm a Black Ops" soldier?), so I have to define myself by my children, because what I am now, primarily, is a Dad.
Four GREAT kids......
34 year old daughter who was sponsored by Gibson Guitars to sing with her band at the Great Wall Of China, now she is back home, doing some singing and acting on the side, and running our real estate business on the East Coast that I had to retire from for health reasons. It keeps her VERY busy but she misses LA terribly.
29 year old son who made his first million (I don't know for certain if I EVER made my first million! LOL!) at age 26 as VP of an internet marketing firm and is now head of his own real estate investment firm, and runs a "bunch" of residential rental properties.
27 year old son who is a prosecutor for a nearby county. Putting people in jail is a passion for him!
and finally,
One day, 18 years ago, long after I had changed my last diaper (or so I thought) the wife says "Sit down honey, I have something to tell you......" (she was 38 at the time, I was mid 40's, no plans for any additions to the family).......
I said "No, come on....that's NOT funny now.....cut it out!" as I laughed and laughed ( a little more nervously each moment she continued to just stare back at me.....
"I'm NOT joking sweetie"........
That was the last thing I remember before waking up.......apparently I hit my head on the kitchen counter on the way down........
ANYWAY......my "little guy" is now 6 feet 7 inches tall and 260 lbs, a senior in High School and close to his black belt in Karate, plays guitar "ok" and piano much better but not an expert (despite 10 years of lessons.....you can force them to take lessons and force them to practice but you can't force them to have a passion for something if they don't feel it).......
BUT.....he has been awarded a full ride at a University where he will start early in the upcoming Summer Session in their well thought of Engineering Program, and he has been what kept me from growing old.....he kept me laughing and playing kid's games and going to Disney long after the other kids had tired of the stuff a little one enjoys. He has been a blessing I could have never imagined, so that "surprise" was maybe the most WONDERFUL surprise I have ever gotten!
I have no particular "favorite".....I DO feel like I "talk" to my oldest son more sometimes about a lot more things, and I DO feel "closer" to my daughter sometimes, because she will ALWAYS be my "little girl", and I DO feel more proud of my "middle son" sometimes when I look at his gold badge and think about how hard he worked to get it by age 27, and I do feel more "awe and wonder" sometimes when looking at my "little guy" and how smart and how funny and how sensitive he is, and I remember that if given a "choice" 18 years ago, he wouldn't have been here, and the world would not have been blessed with what a fantastic guy he already is and will be.
In the end do I love them all equally.....ok, let's be 100% honest, when one of them is pissing me off to the point of going crazy, maybe at the moment I don't! LOL! Otherwise, I'd like to believe I do!
I could go on and on and on "bragging" about the kids but that wasn't the intent of the thread, although there is nothing wrong with a little of that.....but the intent was more to talk about who we have brought into the world and what the world now enjoys as a result of that gift!
Let's hear it guys!!! Tell us about YOUR family! And if your kids are your two Pomeranians, or hairless cats, that's ok too! Let's hear about them!
I just finished reading the AWESOME thread about "What we do for a living" and it made for some FANTASTIC reading and insight into the lives of our members.
You guys, each and every one of you (ok, ok, some more than others, LOL!) have very interesting, some amazing, professions!
I can no longer define myself by my profession (not saying that doing so is a bad thing.....what's wrong with saying "I'm a butcher", or "I'm a baker, or, "I'm a Black Ops" soldier?), so I have to define myself by my children, because what I am now, primarily, is a Dad.
Four GREAT kids......
34 year old daughter who was sponsored by Gibson Guitars to sing with her band at the Great Wall Of China, now she is back home, doing some singing and acting on the side, and running our real estate business on the East Coast that I had to retire from for health reasons. It keeps her VERY busy but she misses LA terribly.
29 year old son who made his first million (I don't know for certain if I EVER made my first million! LOL!) at age 26 as VP of an internet marketing firm and is now head of his own real estate investment firm, and runs a "bunch" of residential rental properties.
27 year old son who is a prosecutor for a nearby county. Putting people in jail is a passion for him!
and finally,
One day, 18 years ago, long after I had changed my last diaper (or so I thought) the wife says "Sit down honey, I have something to tell you......" (she was 38 at the time, I was mid 40's, no plans for any additions to the family).......
I said "No, come on....that's NOT funny now.....cut it out!" as I laughed and laughed ( a little more nervously each moment she continued to just stare back at me.....
"I'm NOT joking sweetie"........
That was the last thing I remember before waking up.......apparently I hit my head on the kitchen counter on the way down........
ANYWAY......my "little guy" is now 6 feet 7 inches tall and 260 lbs, a senior in High School and close to his black belt in Karate, plays guitar "ok" and piano much better but not an expert (despite 10 years of lessons.....you can force them to take lessons and force them to practice but you can't force them to have a passion for something if they don't feel it).......
BUT.....he has been awarded a full ride at a University where he will start early in the upcoming Summer Session in their well thought of Engineering Program, and he has been what kept me from growing old.....he kept me laughing and playing kid's games and going to Disney long after the other kids had tired of the stuff a little one enjoys. He has been a blessing I could have never imagined, so that "surprise" was maybe the most WONDERFUL surprise I have ever gotten!
I have no particular "favorite".....I DO feel like I "talk" to my oldest son more sometimes about a lot more things, and I DO feel "closer" to my daughter sometimes, because she will ALWAYS be my "little girl", and I DO feel more proud of my "middle son" sometimes when I look at his gold badge and think about how hard he worked to get it by age 27, and I do feel more "awe and wonder" sometimes when looking at my "little guy" and how smart and how funny and how sensitive he is, and I remember that if given a "choice" 18 years ago, he wouldn't have been here, and the world would not have been blessed with what a fantastic guy he already is and will be.
In the end do I love them all equally.....ok, let's be 100% honest, when one of them is pissing me off to the point of going crazy, maybe at the moment I don't! LOL! Otherwise, I'd like to believe I do!
I could go on and on and on "bragging" about the kids but that wasn't the intent of the thread, although there is nothing wrong with a little of that.....but the intent was more to talk about who we have brought into the world and what the world now enjoys as a result of that gift!
Let's hear it guys!!! Tell us about YOUR family! And if your kids are your two Pomeranians, or hairless cats, that's ok too! Let's hear about them!
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