Summary
It didn't take long for the years to roll by and [Nathan] turned thirteen. I presented him with a "gift certificate" explaining the trip and giving him "options" and "suggestions." At first, he seemed a little non-plussed and I felt disappointed. But as he began debating where he'd like to go, what all we would do, things we could see, he became more excited and so did I. He finally chose California. So I cashed in my frequent flyer miles and polished up my credit card and off we took. It started off with a bang when we landed in San Diego and got upgraded to a red Camaro convertible for free! We tore off our shirts and went "cruising" like a couple of rubes - which we were. (Actually, it worked out quite well for me, I was able to take Nate on the trip of a lifetime and have my own mid-life crisis adventure at the same time.) We traveled the state from Tijuana to San Diego to LA to Yosemite to San Francisco in eight days. It was a blast. We laughed. We fought. We hiked. We goofed off. We talked. We debated. We just had a great father and son time. I'm still paying off the credit card bill, I do believe. Since then, [Julie] has taken Megan (daughter number 1, kid number 2 of 4) and "coincidentally" their trip was to Washington, DC. I'm already looking forward to the next two trips in our future. But as I look back upon it, I must say that this "rite of passage" trip we enjoyed may well be one of the most important times we ever had together.
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Extract
Rites of Passage an Idea Worth Embracing
I think of myself as being sentimental, without being a sentimentalist. If that sounds a bit like double-talk, perhaps it is. I don't want to be one of those sappy, teary-eyed parents who commemorate every single milestone in a kid's life as if it were some gigantic cosmic moment...
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