Like Mother, Like Son

Dear Dad,

This has been an exhilarating two weeks for G3. Today, his very first publication came in the mail. He was so excited tearing open the envelope. For the last month, he had been growing impatient waiting for it. It’s one thing to be told that your work has been accepted, it’s something else entirely to see it in print. I’m so proud of him. I know you would have been ecstatic. I can see you smiling at his accomplishment, and wish that you had lived to see it.

I guess you know you’re a good teacher not when your student aces a test but when he achieves success in the real real world. This isn’t just an “A” paper that he wrote. It is a short story that a team of editors selected to publish. It will reach a wider audience than one classroom. The story is about a toy wooden pine horse that gets jealous of wooden oak horse. The pine horse is angry that the boy who owned him doesn’t seem to care about him anymore and sets out to get revenge on the oak horse. The main elements of constructing a story are all present — character development, motivation, the classic rising action and climax, and even the description is beyond what you might expect from a child. 

Seeing G3’s work in print is far more exciting than seeing my work published. So often I’ve asked G3 to pose holding the journals in which my work has appeared. Tonight he got to pose with his own work and he made no attempt to show me a serious face. He was all smiles.

I miss you! I miss not being able to share moments like this with you in person or even on the phone.