What would it be like to call home at this age and have him pickup the phone? What would we talk about - Markets, houses, sports, farming, jobs, traveling, marriage advice? What would our answering machine sound like...
What holidays would be like - same traditions? New traditions? Would my parents still use their camper? Would he still stock up on the little things to ensure that there was always a back up?
Would he still write in cursive?
What type of conversations Evan and he would have? What would he have said to Evan if he had asked him for my hand in marriage? How would he interact with grandchildren?
Or even how he would have adapted to technology like carrying around a cell phone or gps or even a laptop?
Would he be completely grey or dye his hair? Would he wear glasses full-time or only for reading? Would he still have a mustache?
Would he still buy the full size candy bars and keep them in his office drawers? Would he travel to the cities a lot to visit us? What would he think about Target's data breach or Snowden or Obama?
Would we still be giving him plaid shirts for Father's Day and go to Arts in the Park? And would he still dislike spaghetti? Would he still boil hot dogs until the butts bloated and then wrap them in white bread and feed them to the grandkids?
What would he have said when I went to my first prom, graduation, won the dog trophy or even my competition in public speaking? What would he have thought about me running a half-marathon, working at Lutsen for a summer, or even working in athletics? How about his feelings about me working for a CE company in the TC area?
Would he even recognize me ten years later….?
It's those little things in life that you don't always notice until it is too late, and the things you yearn for because you didn't get to experience them one last time or even ever.
If only I would have known to stop and appreciate life at 17.
Oh, the unknown… hurts.
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