Faith, Family & Fun

Faith, Family & Fun is a personal column written weekly by Joe Southern, a Coloradan now living in Texas. It's here for your enjoyment. Please feel free to leave comments. I want to hear from you!

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My name is Joe and I am married to Sandy. We have four children: Heather, Wesley, Luke and Colton. Originally from Colorado, we live in Bryan, Texas. Faith, Family & Fun is Copyright 1987-2024 by Joe Southern

Thursday, November 3

Favorite animals and childhood dreams are what grown-ups are made of

Several of us in Mrs. Weaver’s fifth grade class at Niwot (Colo.) Elementary School identified closely with a favorite animal.
Kevin liked rabbits. Billy liked chickens. Dale liked cows. Me? I like raccoons. I must have some fixation with masks being a Lone Ranger fan and all, but that’s a different story. The thing is, we country bumpkins were real serious about our animals. Even now my daughter is all about horses and my middle son can’t get enough information about sharks.
At one point back in the day, each of us had as a “pet” our favorite animal. My ownership of a coon was limited to a few days, as we caught the critter in the wild and it was far too old to tame. Kevin had rabbits for a Scout project and Billy and Dale lived on a hobby farm.
I have not given up hope of having a pet raccoon someday. I’d also like to see my daughter own horses. My son has bala sharks, which are a freshwater fish more akin to carp than actual sharks.
I don’t know about my other friends, but I still have a collection of toy raccoons and still have a very strong affinity for the critters, though nothing like I did when I was 10 years old. Those were the days when I was going to grow up to be a forest ranger. I had my whole life planned out. I was going to be a ranger, working in the Rocky Mountains and spend my time hiking, camping, climbing, fishing and hunting. And yes, I would have a pet raccoon.
Now that I’m in my midlife years with a journalism career where my forest ranger should be, a home far from the Rockies and a dog and two cats where the raccoon belongs, I can’t help but reflect on what might have been if that idealistic Boy Scout in me had not given up on his dream. Actually, the dream was never surrendered; it was sidetracked by the fascination of newspapers and the process of making pictures and words become a product you could hold in your hand.
I never did tire of the thrill of watching a black and white image emerge in a tray of developer under the red light of a darkroom. I love the creativity of photography and page design. I am still awed by the pleasure and power of the written word. The smell of ink is intoxicating. Ink stains, bitter coffee, fresh donuts and buzz of police scanners have been a huge part of my daily routine.
There is a certain feeling that comes from knowing your community intimately well and being known intimately well by your community. That’s been one of the unexpected benefits of being a journalist. I doubt I would have experienced that as a forest ranger. On the other hand, there are a lot of experiences I know I missed by not being the outdoorsman I thought I was going to be.
I refuse to look back with regret. My career is very rewarding. I’m more interested in seeing what my children choose for their careers. Heather, my daughter, is in college now. She is still very passionate about horses and art. I’ve tried very hard to encourage her to follow her dreams, as I do with my three sons as well. Wesley, the oldest, wants to be an engineer. He is very mechanically inclined and well suited for that.
Luke, my shark-loving middle son, wants to be a marine biologist. I’m behind him 100 percent on that. I’ve read enough Clive Cussler books to know how honorable and rewarding a career that can be. My youngest son, Colton, wants to go into the Army and design weapons. Fortunately he is still young enough to dream beyond mayhem and slaughter. Other than his fixation on science fiction weaponry, there really isn’t a violent bone in his body and I’m sure his loving and caring nature will soon manifest itself the more he discovers his passions in life.
Even if he does go on to become a weapons designer, I will do nothing to disparage him or crush his dreams, even if I don’t agree with it. All I ask of my children is that they grow in their faith in God and that they relentlessly pursue their dreams and do the best they can in all aspects of their lives.
As I look back on my life’s journey, I can’t help but feel that all proverbial bucket lists are filled with unfulfilled dreams. If we make those dreams our goals it gives us something to strive for. It gives us drive and passion and a compelling urge to move forward.
My dream of being a forest ranger is not likely to ever be fulfilled, and I’m fine with that. I have a wonderful career that has given me opportunities beyond anything I imagined as a child. I won’t give up on the dream of having a pet raccoon. It may be a childish dream, but look where those dreams of old have taken me. I look forward to the realms my new dreams will traverse. Where do you want your dreams to take you? I hope it’s someplace nice – someplace you’ve always dreamed about.

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