For this prompt, I guided my participants through a more non-fiction style prompt. We explored the area of what the biggest influences have been in shaping them into the men they are today. I think that it’s incredibly useful to look back at the experiences and the people that have helped make you who you are. The older you get, the further you get from those origins. But every once in a while, especially as you get older, I think it’s necessary to take a look back and re-familiarize yourself with you were and who you are now. Sometimes it can be hard, other times it can be quite fun. For me, this prompt made me think of not only how I was shaped, but also how some young people in my life are being shaped right in front of me. Specifically it made me think of my nephew and a rather powerful experience of helping him learn how to play a simple game of catch.
Here is what I wrote:
Landon lobbed the ball at me with surprising speed and control. I somehow managed to catch it, and when I looked at him with wide eyes and an even wider smile, I could see he was just as surprised as me. He’s only three years old by the way.
We played catch for about an hour. Some of his throws went a little wide and in to the corner, but he owned up to the errors quickly, yelling, “I got it,” as he went to retrieve the ball. For the first time, I had this strong sense that I was doing something I’d dreamed of since first hearing I would become an uncle. I was helping to shape him in to the person he will one day become. It takes a village, they say, and the realization that I’m a part of that village for Landon evokes feelings of pride and responsibility.
It’s funny to think that were all at that stage once in our lives. Being young, especially as young as Landon, is like an island we slowly but surely drift away from. Before you know it, that island is so far away that there’s hardly any evidence that it ever existed, or that your feet were ever once pressed into its sandy shores. And I’ve found that you migrate to many different islands through out life. When you leave one and drift to the next, it’s often sad when you realize you can’t go back. You often can’t change the current of your life. You certainly can’t change the direction of time. For better or for worse, we’re always drifting forward.
Such is life.
But as I played catch with that three year old nephew of mine, I did catch a glimpse of that former island of mine. I was glad to find that it’s still there, and I could see it in his eyes. It was in the wonderment on his face, and how everything is so new for him as he explores the world. It’s enough to make me stop and take a good hard look at this island I’m currently on. Sometimes it’s tough here. Sometimes I miss being on those other islands. But all in all, it’s no so bad here. I’m glad to know that there’s more ahead to look forward to, and that I can help usher my nephew as he drifts forward with the current of life.
