My older son is a man.  He is only 26 years old.  I realize that he is a man with a man’s body, man’s heart and soul.  He loves to skateboard and play video games.  I don’t mean he likes them.  I totally mean… he loves them. 

After failing and quitting high school he went on to obtain both an associates and bachelors degree.  And, he may not be done with his formal education; although he is for now.  His overcoming and succeeding is not the source of my pride and recognition of his manhood.

After college he worked for NYPIRG, which is a political action group.  He’s a rebel at heart and parts of that job pleased him, the making a difference parts.  Other parts frustrated him; the bureaucratic parts.  He resigned at the end of his first contract.  Then as he formulated what he really wanted to do with the rest of his life he began getting involved in and creating his own political action. 

He moved into a poor neighborhood and contributed to a wonderful community garden project.  We are not talking flowers here.  The underprivileged have vegetable gardens on vacant lots where they can simply walk in and pick tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh herbs and a lot more.  The city he lived in outlawed skateboarders from public property so he organized the tattooed and scrubby kids, lobbied city hall, literally.  And there are now two designated skate parks.  There is more but he doesn’t share all of it.  He is humble and quiet (characteristics that he most obviously obtained from his mother and her side of the family). 

Now, as a dad, I thought this was cute and nice… and I wanted him to get a real job.  But he was waiting.  He knew what he wanted and he was not going to settle.  He kept learning and doing good work.  He taught me about living green and political action.  I never realized that he had such a strong commitment to what he dreamed of doing, planned to do.

The other day I dropped him off at the airport to fly to San Francisco for his training.  He got THE job.  I didn’t even know he had applied.  I didn’t know he had two interviews before they flew him across the country for a personal interview, that he was selected from nine hundred applicants to work for Greenpeace.  His dream job!

Now I know.  And I now see that he is a man; a man who retains the spirit of playful child while he brings the world the heart, the soul, and the spirit of a man.  He makes me very proud.  (And I love him)