George W. Bush's First Baby Shoes

(This was a writing exercise where I had fifteen minutes to come up with something about the two slips of paper I had drawn: “George W. Bush's first baby shoes” and “A Rusty Lawn Chair”.)

Here I sit in my favorite lawn chair, caressing my son's first baby shoes. I have so many memories of sitting in this chair, rocking him on warm summer evenings. Of course, this chair wasn't old and rusty then. But the baby shoes weren't worn either.

My little baby has just left for college. What will become of him? Not the most motivated fellow. Hopefully, he'll make some friends at Yale who are a good influence on him. Hopefully he won't just party all of the time. It's important to have friends and to enjoy life, but sometimes I worry that he's not willing to buckle down and do what needs to be done to have something behind that pleasant facade of his.

What will become of him? Not the brightest bulb. Oh, I know I shouldn't say that about my own son, but I've had eighteen years to face this reality.

Hopefully, he will make some good connections at Yale. Maybe he'll make friends who will go on to be successful and will hire him as an aide. I'd always hoped for more, but I really don't think I can expect anything else of him.