To Be Young and in Love........

My oldest son, Douglas, recently graduated from college with a performance music degree. His performance instrument is the double bass. I guess that makes him a bassist.

Douglas spent the summer playing electric bass on a cruise ship going back and forth from Seattle to Alaska. After a four month contract, Douglas returned home to Utah for a while before heading off to San Diego in January.

Here is where the story begins. In the last part of Douglas’ senior year, he met a girl, Rose. Yes, a girl. With the introduction of a girl you quickly can see why the story starts here. Rose has been on an internship in Washington D.C. this quarter from her school in San Diego.

Are you beginning to see why Douglas is heading to San Diego in January? Yes, a girl.

Today’s technology is amazing and even more amazing when you are in love with a girl that is a long distance away. Text messages, blogs, email, internet, and unlimited minutes on the cell phone are all integral technologies to have in today’s world of love and romance. This capability surely did not exist when I was young.

It is interesting to me how transparent and open young people are today on technology like Facebook, MySpace, and internet blogs. If you follow enough young people on these social networks you can see these relationships played out right before your eyes on the internet. You know when things are going well, when a couple is having a fight, or many other things I don’t want to really know about. At times I feel like a spectator and other times I just want to intercede and referee. I am usually biased on whose side to take. I usually side with Rose.

Technology and multiple ways to communicate in today’s world do not fill the void when you are young, in love and separated for months. Douglas has been working in a restaurant but still has had free time on his hands. To fill time and do something special for Rose, he began a woodworking project to build a bookcase. This is no simple bookcase with 90 degree corners and easy joints to create. We are talking angled joints and semi-circle shelves. It is a real engineering feat.

Douglas has used every tool I own (which is actually not all that many) to complete this project. I haven’t used any of these tools in years. What does that tell you about my capacity to build or fix things?

This project has been a real labor of love. Rose, perhaps? Rose is coming through Utah to stay with us for a few days and see Douglas, mostly to see Douglas, before going home to California for the holidays. I learned a few days ago that the bookcase is to be assembled before she arrives. The two of them plan to stain and finish the bookcase together. Wow, truly this is a labor of love.

Remember those days, to be young and in love………