Neanderpundit

no posting till the weekend at least

Today I bury my sole remaining maternal uncle.

Not personally, mind you, I will not be tamping down the dirt with a spade. Just figuratively. I loved Uncle Frank, but after the other deaths I’ve endured recently I’m kind of numb to the pain.

Here’s the good news: Frank had a long healthy retirement. He got to enjoy his grandchildren. He had alzheimers toward the end and finally, his body failed him. He had no awareness of what was happening. I hope I have that much luck.

God hold Frank Fairchild in the palm of his hand.

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” ‑ 1 Corinthians 13:11

Some people never grow up. Some never get that being an adult carries with it responsibilities that should not be shirked.

Some of the responsibilities are social, like being involved in and aware of the political process on a local and national level. Even if it only includes voting.

As a husband and parent, though, there are other imperatives.

The parental imperative puts a burden on a man unlike any other. His primary task is to provide for his offspring, and while most everyone takes it in stride, only a few know what it really means.

It means you have a hostage to your freedom. It means you are limited in your personal choices as to those options that do not affect your child adversely (i.e.:you do without the big truck so you can get your kid in a decent school) you are limited in your actions to those which are conducive to good parenting. Not tough stuff, really, just what all good parents do.

On the other end of that spectrum, though, are the hard decisions. Certainly nobody hopes to end up unemployed or unemployable, but at that point you steal if you have to to make sure your child has the necessities. Certainly, nobody wants to live under the threat of harm to theirselves, but if someone threatens harm to your family, you do what it takes to remove the threat. You make decisions that might be unpopular, you take actions that may be dangerous, you engage in activity that may endanger your immortal soul, if you must. That’s what men do.