LIFE’S LITTLE JOKES
ALM No.94, October 2026
ESSAYS
Life is funny. A brainiac may get a jock with a low I.Q. for a son. Meanwhile, the athlete who cares only for sports may father a bookworm. The reason this happens is simple. God has a sense of humor.
In most cases, life would be easier if our kids were our clones. However, someone who resides with his opposite does get extra chances to grow in tolerance and understanding.
I, a lawyer who married a lawyer, have experience in unlikely pairings. We were parents who lived life in the quiet lane with a child (whom we adopted) who liked life on the edge.
The child (now an adult) in question is Trip. He and I love each other deeply but are quite different. I told him that my idea of heaven included a vast library, with books revealing all the secrets of the universe. Our son, though intelligent, is not academically inclined. According to him, if the door opened after his death and he saw a library, he would assume he had gone to hell!
Trip occasionally shocked us over the years. For example, during the introductory meeting for kindergarten, he and the teacher responsible for safeguarding the children disappeared. (Both of them were supposed to be in the playground with the other youngsters.) I found him clinging to the very top of a flag pole and her, distraught, begging him to come down.
Another example occurred when he was a teenager. One morning while he was away, I needed to drop by his bedroom. The door was closed. I opened it to a stunning sight. Thankfully, it is not every day you discover that a pit bull has moved into your home!
A third example concerns soccer. In high school Trip was a star midfielder but never a goalkeeper. Yet one day, when a key game reached the penalty kicks stage, he decided to take responsibility for the victory or defeat. With the coach’s approval, he replaced the two goalies for the shootout. My spouse and I watched, dumbfounded. Our son won the match with a final dramatic save.
While Trip was in college, he played various sports. He listened to rap music to rev up for his soccer games. He said that some of his teammates prepared by reading the Bible. I would have preferred more Bible study for him and less hip-hop.
Then, when he was twenty-one, tragedy struck. The death of my dear husband hit our son and me hard. Trip became very protective of me.
The following winter, we flew to California. In the Sierra Nevada Mountains he took one beginner class on snowboarding. Less than forty-eight hours later, he rode his board down the black diamond slope. (I know this because I happened to see him whiz by!)
During the vacation we also took a road trip around California. Since our tastes differ in many respects, I had planned a few of the destinations for him (e.g., Venice Beach for its famous and sweaty Gold’s Gym), a few for me (e.g., Yosemite National Park), and a few for both of us (e.g., San Francisco). My son complained half the way to Yosemite and then fell in love with the place. At Gold’s he got to meet several gods of the weight-lifting world. Meanwhile, I spent a magical day on the sandy boardwalk.
Experts say it is good to get out of your comfort zone and to challenge yourself. Some days with Trip, I never made it into my comfort zone.
My son is not a saint, but he has many good traits. They include qualities, like street smarts, I lack. He did provide considerable drama and some heart-stopping moments through the years. Yet Trip often makes me laugh. Without him, my life would have been less of an adventure - and a lot less colorful.
Renée Henning: I am an attorney and an international author. My written work has appeared in Adelaide Literary Magazine, in my nonfiction book Mystery and the Adopted Child, and in other publications in North America (e.g., Washington Post), South America (Salto Al Día), Europe (e.g., Oslo Times), Asia (e.g., ActiveMuse), Africa (e.g., Modern Ghana), and Oceania (e.g., Freelance).
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