What I Love About Reese

Day 125 (Written Sunday April 15) ~ Most of you probably already know my son Reese, but for those of you who have yet to meet him, or those who would like to see him through his daddy’s eyes, allow me to explain to you what it is that I love about Reese. Obviously I love him because he is my son, but there are so many other reasons that have nothing to do with our kinship that make me proud to be his dad and happy to have him in my life. I love that Reese can sit in the floor and play with five year old kids for hours, hold a baby and bounce it around to keep it quiet, hang out with teenagers from all kinds of social groups and laugh hysterically, carry on an intelligent conversation with adults and listen with interest at the often repetitive stories of the elderly. I’ve yet to meet an age, race, gender or social class of person that he cannot get along with and engage in meaningful conversation. This isn’t something he’s learned, he’s pretty much been doing this his entire life. I love how much he loves his music, a lot. So much so that he doesn’t care whether or not you like it. So much so that all he wants to do in his spare time is listen to it, play it, write it, talk about it and work in it. And when he listens to it, he does so as if he were performing onstage in front of 50,000 people. He sings, he dances, he puts everything he has into it and he doesn’t care if anyone is watching. He laughs at me because when I see him putting on a silent concert in front of the mirror I call it his “Rock Star Practice.” Wherever we go, his iPod is sure to follow. If he gets 30 spare seconds, the headphones are in and the music is blasting. True, this can also be an annoyance, it is also one of the things I love about him. I also love how hard of a worker he is. He has held a number of jobs that required long hours in tough environmental conditions doing physically demanding labor and he’s always done it. Not only does he not complain about it, he seems to enjoy a good days work (not to mention the good days pay that accompanies it). He’s been a great help to us around the house in so many ways and now that he drives, he runs so many errands for us without questioning it. If you let him put on his headphones he’d dig you a pond with a teaspoon. It’s hard to pick a favorite thing about him, but certainly near the top is his humble heart when he’s made a mistake. I have worked hard to make sure that he never had to feel that since his dad was a preacher he couldn’t make any mistakes. He’s made mistakes. Most of the mistakes he’s made have been the result of following in his father’s footsteps. I told my mom recently if I had known my sons would be just like me I would have been a much better kid. But whenever he’s messed up, he’s fessed up, and I love him for that. PS - I just thought of one more (because he just did it). He’s not afraid or embarrassed to hug his mom or dad and say I love you in public, even in front of his friends.