It is a hallmark of the men in my family to develop passionate,
all-consuming interests. My grandfather was like this. Luckily for
humanity, his passion was helping other people. One of the greatest
favors you could do for him was let him mow your lawn. Into his 70s and
80s he had a route consisting of his rural church, country cemeteries,
widows and shut-ins. Despite being raised in the early part of the 20th
century in the south, he didn't care what color you were. If your grass
needed cutting, he was your man, free of charge. He also loved deer
hunting. During the season (Mid-October to the end of December) he would
sometimes live in an unheated cinder block building belonging to his
hunting club, several counties away. As he was an older man who wore
glasses and didn't hear all that well, he didn't shoot many deer. He
just loved the atmosphere of the men gathering before dawn with their
dogs and the after action get togethers where stories of the days hunt
would play out. A life-long baseball fanatic, he was devoted to the
Atlanta Braves. He was the first person I knew to get a satellite dish
in his yard, back when they were half the size of a house. During the
last weekend of his life, when we knew it was just a matter of hours
until his death, I sat with him and watched a Braves game as he happily
chatted about their chances in the 2005 season.
My Father
My dad has the same passionate drive and he has had more money than my
grandfather ever did. He got interested in photography when I was a kid
and he built a darkroom in his house. He decided to be an archer and the
next thing you know he had a collection of bows, arrows of all sorts. He
even bought me one. I was in the fourth grade. For a while he was
interested in World War Two rifles and through the miracle of Ebay,
bought weapons from Russia, Poland, France, Japan, Germany, Great
Britain and more. He eventually tired of them and contributed them all
to the construction of a local war memorial where the artist burned them
all and bent the barrels in odd shapes so they could never be used
again. He moved on to golf, a sport made for men who like to spend
money. He absolutely sucked at it but bought a house on a golf course in
Pinehurst, NC just the same. He kept plugging away until his health
prevented him from playing any more.
Me
I am so much like them. Someone I knew bought a cockatiel for her her
classroom, I decided I like parrots too and within a year had
constructed two aviaries and soon had more than 30 rescued birds, big
ones like Amazons and African Greys. I bought a bicycle to lose weight.
Within months I was going on rides of 100 miles regularly. The following
year I pedaled over 10,000 miles. I took my soon to be wife on a camping
trip for her birthday the year after we got together. We enjoyed camping
so much we decided to go backpacking the following weekend. That was
mid-January. Four months later we left to hike the entirety of the
Appalachian Trail (2,189 miles). If I like an author, I have to read all
their books. I've been that way my whole life. It doesn't matter if
they've written 50 of them. The same with music. In the days when people
still bought albums, if I liked an artist, I wanted every album. The
Beatles? Got them all. Rolling Stones? Check. Bob Dylan? Check.
My Son
My son has the same gene. He bought a piano for himself at age 40
because he wanted to learn how to play. He developed an interest in art
and now that he has an empty nest regularly flies to cities with major
art museums to spend the weekends lost in the galleries. He took up
cycling and had five bikes within a year. he built a gym at his house
because he likes to lift weights but got tired of going to the Y. He
decided to get a record player one day and now has an entire wall of his
house lined with LPs.
My Grandson
My oldest grandson is 18. He graduated from high school last year. We
are waiting to see what interests he develops as an adult. He is very
much his own person, so I'm not expecting a carbon copy of his Dad's
passions, but I am expecting passion. It runs in the family.
