nukesafe

I'll drink to that!

Mathieu

Kerouac, the toast I proposed to mothers and sons goes to you too - just so you know.
From my own experiences, I applaud your dedication.

M

nelsonian

Kerouac, thanks for the wonderful report of your evening with Greg and your other internet friends. Arts you must be incredibly proud of your son, and should be very proud of yourself for the way you have help shape his life and his ideals.

I too know what you are going through Kerouac with caring for your mother. Our travel is virtually non-existent for the same reason. We manage to get away for a night every couple of months to visit our grand-children but that's it.

Jackie

Kerouac: thanks for taking the time to share your dinner experience in such detail. My eyes were welling up reading it. Thanks to you too artsnletters for continuing to share your son's journey. I can see why you are so proud of him.

taconictraveler

"Chapeau bas!" - My hat is off to ArtsandLetters, to Scruffman and to Kerouac!! As a mother with a son, I applaud you all, and all our fodorites in similar situations, who are helping to bring friendship and kindness and value in to our needy world!

LoveItaly

Well I am sure weepy. Your son is obviousl a fine young man, artsnletters, thank you for sharing his latest adventures. And your post regarding your evening with our Gregg was beautiful, kerouac, I can imagine how much your words have meant to his mother. And I send my best to you, your mother is so fortunate to have you for her son, you are a true blessing.

kkukura

I, too, get emotional, just reading this. I am a single parent of two children and I know how difficult it is to raise them on my own (my husband passed away from cancer 9 years ago when both children were only 7 and 11). I hope I can do as good a job as you are artsnletters! I admire the Scruffman's drive. Kerouac, I always enjoy reading and seeing your photo essays. Thank you for sharing your evening with the Scruffman with us.

kerouac

No news of our favorite voyager? Was Scruffy so traumatized by meeting the frightening Kerouac that he has broken all communication links?

artsnletters

kerouac, did you read my installment on Jan 22, shortly before your wonderful account of the Adventures of Scruffman and kerouac? That's the last really juicy info I received, the day after your dinner with him.

The Scruffman is currently in Italy, preparing for some serious intercontinental drift. I'm holding off to see if I hear anything more in the next day or so (or more likely not), but one way or the other I'll fill in what I can shortly. I'm likely to be living at work over the weekend (getting really tired of this, except that it's quite possible I'll be laid off next week), so may not get to it until the first of the week.

artsnletters

To all of you who have commented lately, thank you so much for your warm thoughts. I really appreciate them. I'm still feeling terribly emotional about this - the Scruffman's last e-mail was the most personal he has sent since he left home.

kkukura, so much depends on the raw material you get. The Scruffman was a very easy child for me to raise - maybe not for others. He wasn't school-oriented or driven. He was a very active child. But he and I were well matched temperamentally. We are very alike in many ways, and very very different in many ways, but not in ways that cause lots of friction. He looks tremendously like his father and very little like me - in fact I can't really see myself in him physically at all - but he is so completely unlike his father in temperament, interests, personality. If his father were still alive, he would have no idea what to do with this unconventional, creative, passionate young man.

I will however give you my two main tenets of child-rearing:

1. My job is not to make my child who I want him to be. My job is to help him be who he is.

2. The way to hold onto your child forever is to love him with all your heart and let him go.

I also love this from Kahlil Gibran's On Children:

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark on the path of the infinite,
and he bends you with his might
that his arrows may go swift and far.

Mathieu

Hmmm.
Sound philosophy, and then some sage advice from one of my favourite poems.
I couldn't agree more.


M.

kerouac

Yes, a'n'l, of course I have read every word that you have wirtten. I just thought that he would have some impressions of Italy before the big jump.

artsnletters

kerouac, I only wondered if you'd missed it. I know I have your attention - you've been one of the Scruffman's most dedicated fans since the very beginning.

If I don't hear something substantive from him tomorrow, I doubt I'll hear another word about Italy until he gets home, if then. But I will share at least what little I have!

kja

> except that it's quite possible I'll be laid off next week

I so hope that doesn't happen, artsnletters!

artsnletters

Me too, kja.

I bought lotto tickets this week. Might as well!

kerouac

I sent you a photo of the Scruffman for your examination.

nukesafe

Oh, please, artsnletters, can we see, too?

artsnletters

I'm checking my e-mail every 5 minutes (at work no less, shame on me!) but still waiting for it to arrive. When it comes, maybe I can post it to my profile.

Actually, I'll stick one of him there right now that I have - it will be immediately obvious that it's the Scruffman, but NOT the Scruffman in Paris.

artsnletters

Temporary Scruffman photo in place, until I get the photo from kerouac.

kerouac

I think I am in your spam filter.