Please Allow a Moment for a Proud Father . . .

The last four months or so have been full of mileposts for my son, Ryan. Some of you know Ryan (or feel like you do) -- I have mentioned him often in my e-mails over the years, and for several years he traveled with me to shows (a lot more than he preferred).

Ryan graduated from high school two years ago, but because he had battled health problems so much during his senior year (concussion during football season, followed by mono), the guidance counselor recommended that he wait at least a year before tackling college. So with the help of a great alternative medicine doctor in Cincinnati, Ryan got healthy and started working at Best Buy -- which for him is like working at a toy store. And Carla and I get the benefit when he asks us to watch movies with him on the big plasma TV with surround sound in his bedroom.

January was a rough month. Ryan slipped and fell on the ice in our driveway and ended up with a concussion, but apparently blacked out because he didn't know he had hit his head and worked for two more days before the headaches and nausea sent him to the emergency room. He recovered quickly (thanks again to the alternative medicine doc), but a week later totaled his truck on the way home from work and repeated the process all over again.

By the middle of February, he was seriously considering starting college part time at Cincinnati State. It fit all of his needs -- it offered environmental engineering, was close to Best Buy, and was close to his girlfriend (you can guess which was most important). So he filled out the application, jumped through all of the hoops, registered for classes, and started the day after Easter.

Monday is Ryan's longest day at school (classes from 8:00 until 2:00), with a shorter day on Wednesday and only one class on Friday. He has shifts at Best Buy after school on at least two of those days. Thankfully, Cincinnati State is a community college and understands that most students have jobs, but Carla and I have still had our concerns -- Ryan is applying himself and is very bright, but he has never enjoyed being a "student".

This morning, I got two texts from Ryan -- one about 9:30 and the other about 11:00. The first one informed me that he got 100 on his first environmental engineering test, and the second that he got 103 on his math test (the highest score in all three math sections).

For one day, I am enjoying watching my son's hard work pay off . . .