Feed The Ducks...

[Guest DominantBlogger]

Fifteen years ago I was renting a house on campus.  I was going to school full time and working full time between three different jobs.  The house next door was rented by several members of the university's female swimming and diving team.  We studied hard, worked hard and partied hardest of all.  Things were pretty good...  

 

Then I met this girl...  

 

Truth be told I didn't want to meet anyone.  I was focused on what I needed to do and frankly didn't have time for anyone past the casual party friends and regular hookups with folks in my same situation.  smiles  There were some tough days and some memorable nights.

 

But I met this girl and we hit it off...  She was the friend of a friend.... Kinda a blind date, I guess.  We'd met in passing a couple times but neither of us really knew the other.  One day a buddy of mine came up and mentioned he had a girl he wanted to set me up with and there it was.  

 

Our first date was really a double date with my buddy and his girl.  We saw "Happy Texas" which to this day I find funny.  After the date we parted ways and that was that....  The next day, my buddy gives me her number... Says I should call her cause she had a good time and wanted to get to know me better.  Well, I knew she was divorced and I knew she had kids.  But mostly, I knew if I started dating this girl I was likely going to lose focus.  

 

One day went by...  Then two...  On the third day my buddy ask, "You gonna call her or what?"  So I called her...  We talked for a few hours that first night.  Things moved forward...  I met her two boys...  Her boys and I hit it off as well.

 

Time went on....  I decided it was time to have them all out to my place.  Took the naked woman off my screen saver and put the party liquor up out of reach.  When the kids arrived I remember the oldest liked that there were ducks across the street at the water feature in front of one of the university buildings.  I asked him if he wanted to go feed them and his eyes blew up big as saucers...

 

That day we took a loaf of bread and he and I went over to feed the ducks...  That was it for me.  We talked and joked and bonded.  From that moment on, it was no longer a question about what I was going to do.  He became my son.

 

A lot has changed in all the years since that day.  His mom and I are no longer together.  He's grown to a massive 6'4", broad shouldered 18 year old.  I haven't seen or talked to him in three years.  He lived with his mom.  But now he kinda drifted off and nobody knows, now.  There's been a lot of pain...  Still is a lot of pain...  I miss that boy more than I can say. 

 

You know, I planned to be a History professor back then...  I love a good story and history is just all different folks' stories intertwined.  I planned on finishing my undergraduate, going for my masters and then on for my doctorate.  I planned on parlaying my IT skills to pay for my schooling along the way.  Instead, I ended up leaving school a few months later.  I got a full time job at a local ISP and within two years was overseeing all the DSL deployments.  I became an owner and soon left that ISP to found another.  Later sold my stake in that company as well and the rest is history.

 

Given the chance I wouldn't change it, though...  My life didn't turn out at all as I was planning back then.  Funny thing...  Not may folks' lives do.  Planning is good...  Planning is necessary...  But life is what happens when the plan doesn't happen.  All the important stuff you remember is the stuff that happens when things don't go according to plan.  I don't remember all the monotonous days of work.  

But I remember feeding the ducks...

 

Don't forget to feed the ducks, folks.  You never know when it might change your life.  Change isn't always good.  It isn't always bad... But if you make good memories along the way you won't regret it.

[PeppermintBatty]

That's sweet. I'll remember to do things like that.