We always wanted William to have the same childhood experiences as we had but times have changed. No longer was it safe to wander alone as a young child. No longer was it okay to be out of the sight of a parent. The freedoms we had no longer could happen. It is sad.
What we did do is to try to expose him to a lot of the arts and surrounded ourselves with a huge variety of people with vastly different interests. We also traveled but not as much as before his birth. There just wasn’t the money as my staying home limited our income.
After he died, we drove Papa Joe’s car to his daughter in Washington State. William was maybe 8-years old. We spent the night at a Hilton in Eugene, Oregon with a beautiful pool and outdoor hot tub. After a refreshing swim, we all hopped into the warm waters. William, lounging in the spa and looking so at home, said, “So, this is Oregon.” Michael and I both laughed and said, “Honey, you’d better do something for a living that affords you the finer things in life!”
The best moment of my parenting life was when William was around 22 or 23. We were in the parking lot of an In-and-Out Burger, of all places. They are not in his area and he really was looking forward to having one. On our way in, he said, “I realize that I didn’t have a normal upbringing.” I paused and said, “You just now got that? We never wanted normal for you.”
He went on to say that he may have been raised in the suburbs but we did not live a suburban existence.
He got it. He got that we tried to show him a bigger world that was his for the taking. We wanted him be comfortable in any circumstances: huge concert halls of major symphony orchestras, museums, fine restaurants, foreign countries and other languages.
He also said that we were great parents. I will remember that for the rest of my life. It all happened in a parking lot while walking. I do remember getting a bit teary. Still do.
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