Never give up on your children

Over the weekend, my bride and I did a little moving around of our king-sized bed, installing a new dust ruffle. As we did this, we rediscovered something we had under the bed besides dust and baseball bats (to defend ourselves in case of attack). What we found was an incredible charcoal drawing done by number 1 son.

Number 1 son was, it seemed, our "Rebel without a cause" throughout his high school years. Incredibly intelligent, he barely made "C's" for his grades, and, of our three children, was the one most often in trouble during the teenage years. For a time, we didn't know if he'd graduate from high school. Fortunately, he did, doing just enough to get by and receive his diploma.

He had always been a talented artist - and good with computers - so he went on to college, and majored in Graphic Arts. The drawing we found under the bed is one he did when he was in college as a project for an art class he was taking. It is a drawing of me, replicated from a posed photo taken long ago, shortly after I graduated from Marine Corps boot camp. It shows a rather stoic, scared, younger me in dress blues - a "head shot".

I vaguely remember him asking if he could borrow the picture, which was hanging in our game room upstairs at the time, along with pictures of both his Grandfathers - also Marines. When I asked why, he replied it was for a school project, and I answered yes, though somewhat hesitantly.

Some time later - either weeks, or months - memory fails me at this point - he brought home both the original picture AND his drawing. To say I was overwhelmed is an understatement. While I had known he could draw pretty well, I had never known to what extent his talent reached. The likeness of his artwork to the original photograph, plus the depth he added blew me away. Weeks later, he did another drawing - this time of the late actor, Vincent Price, which was even better.

My son had entered college with over 90 other students in the Graphic Arts program. Only 4 completed the studies and received their degrees. For his capstone project, he designed a new hotel project in Las Vegas. Creating a name, a theme for the hotel, it's restaurants, other amenities, and signage. Having been in Hotel Management and watched hotels being built from the ground up, I was amazed at his Savvy. Interestingly enough, following a family tradition, I had taken him to Las Vegas for his 21st birthday.

As the years have gone by, I have watched him grow in his field of endeavor. He began his career as a graphic artist at a very small Ad Agency. Now, in just a few months, he will celebrate his 30th birthday, and he is the Creative Director for an Ad agency he is helping to grow.

I've seen some of the work he's done since that drawing of me several years back and recently rediscovered, and I am continually amazed by his talent. Not only can he draw pictures, but he can create entire Marketing plans for large organizations; re-brand or create their public images; design web pages; and a host of things that I never could have imagined he was capable of when he was a junior in high school.

My bride and I are proud of the accomplishments of all of our children. But, this little tale just proves to all parents that you should Never, ever give up on your children.

Old Fart Mike