“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he’d learned in seven years.”
-Mark Twain

Isn’t it interesting? Isn’t it ironic? As children, mainly teenagers, we seem to know it all. We’ve ‘been there, and done that.’ What could our parents possibly know, that we do not? We rebel and disagree, sometimes, just for the sake of doing so.

When I first came across this quote, almost a year ago, it made me stop and think. Wow, how true. Growing up, my father and I were nowhere close to being on the same page. My dad was a hard working laborer, who could do anything with power tools. He liked to hunt and fish, but that was about the extent of his sportiness. Myself on the other hand, I was a geek, and still to this day, do not like to get dirty. While mediocre in ability level, I was also an athlete; football, baseball, and basketball were my sports.

Often times my dad would try to teach me things, or get me to tag along with him for the day. I had no interest. I would rather sleep until noon and then bang on the keyboard of my computer for the rest of the day. Thinking back, I sure did miss out on some great life skill experiences.

Today, my dad and I are growing to become best friends. I love, and thus miss, him more and more every day. Our conversations are actually starting to contain a lot of substance, and I thoroughly enjoy the time that I get to spend with him.

These days, I call my dad for almost everything. “How do I…..” Anything from keeping the toilet from constantly running to when to plant grass seed. It has to get on his nerves, and I’m sure he sometimes thinks, “boy, if you would have only listened to me when you were younger…” Oh well, gives me good reasons to call him!

One of the lessons my dad did teach me (although, I thought he was out of his mind for the longest time), was not to borrow, anything. I was not allowed to borrow video games, money, toys, anything. I was told that if I couldn’t afford it, I didn’t need it. Boy, did I think that was unfair. All of my friends got to, why couldn’t I? I wish it would have stuck with me then, but just as the quote insinuates, it took me “seven years” to realize he was right. If only I had listened to him then, I wouldn’t have credit card debt, an expensive car payment, or even two houses, both with mortgages. I would also have a heck of a lot more actual cash in the bank.

Oh well. I wonder how much smarter he’ll be in another “seven years.”