Time marches on. I have never realized the impact of that statement as much as I have this summer. It is difficult for me to believe I am the father of a 17- year-old son who can now go places by himself in a car and who will shortly be a high school senior filling out college applications.
Why, just the other day he was a 4-yearold in Miss Tobi’s class, learning how to make a picture frame out of jigsaw puzzle pieces. Not much before that, I could hold him and listen to him sing the chorus to “Honey Don’t” by Carl Perkins as we listened to that song on a 45 rpm record.
I can’t carry him around anymore. He’s taller than me (one wish my late wife had was to see her son grow up to be just a little bit taller than his parents; he did it) and he may even outweigh me by a bit.
But there certainly are memories still to be made. On a recent weekend, I took Nate and his friend to the Woodbridge Center so they could see a performance by Sparks the Rescue, a band from Maine.
I thought a drive to the Woodbridge mall would be a challenge for a new driver (my over-protective nature), so I offered to ferry the boys to the afternoon show at the mall. It was a compromise for a young man who has been driving himself around the area this summer, but I am glad we reached the agreement.
Being at the mall gave me the chance to watch my son and his friend have a good time while they listened to the band perform. The show was on the first level of the mall and I was on the second level observing the two performers and all of the young people who were watching them.
It was easy to see that the young people were enjoying the music. The songs were listenable, though I felt a little odd looking on from above, unnoticed by the people a floor below me.
(I do not think I would have wanted my dad watching me watch Twisted Sister perform at Emmett’s Inn in Jamesburg in 1978, but I’m a journalist and my dad wasn’t, and sometimes my family members end up in a column such as this). After Sparks the Rescue finished their set, the young men from the band walked over to a table, sat down and did a meet and greet with the small, but devoted group of fans who had come to see them play.
I could not help but smile as I watched the teenagers walk up one by one, shake hands or hug the members of the band, get a poster autographed and have their picture taken with the musicians. It was a small gesture on the part of musicians who may well be tired of meeting and greeting fans, but these guys never gave any outward indication that they minded meeting their admirers.
The young people’s enthusiasm was returned by Sparks the Rescue and as a parent I appreciated seeing that type of response. We all want our children to believe that the people they look up to are decent individuals who would return their admiration.
I truly enjoyed seeing the smile on my son’s face when his turn came to get a poster signed and have his picture taken with Sparks the Rescue. I added that picture to my memory bank even as I considered the fact that the moments we share may become fewer and farther between as he grows up and no longer needs someone to hold his hand and sing “Honey Don’t” with.
Mark Rosman is the managing editor of the Tri-Town News. He may be reached via email at [email protected].