As I may have mentioned in the past, I’m a life-long Star Trek fan. And I’m not too proud to say that I sort of made a concerted effort to pass that interest on to my son. First, I thought it would be fun for us to share something like that, and second, I think there’s a lot of positivity to be gleaned from something that’s “only” a TV show. For a while, I thought I had succeeded. He liked to watch The Next Generation with me—Data was his favorite character—and he even sort of enjoyed going to conventions.
But, somewhere along the line, a greater action quotient won out, and he was dragged over to the Star Wars side. Now, I’m not one of those folks who’ll do battle over which franchise is better. I enjoy them both, even though my heart will always belong to Trek. Sure, I was a little disappointed that he wasn’t fully following in my fannish footsteps, but I was still glad he was excited by something futuristic and fanciful. And, anyway, Star Wars has Yoda; hard to go wrong with that.
But, sadly, his interest in things “star” was not meant to last. As he grew older, he found other pastimes, and other things that would fascinate him. He didn’t move far enough away that he felt the need to dismantle a small spot of fandom that he’d put up in his room, but when he moved to his own place for the first time last year, he also didn’t feel connected enough to his old interests to pack them up and take them with him.
So it is that his old room—my current exercise room—still has a couple of small shelves dedicated to some Star Wars items that he collected in his youth, including some movie tie-in cups that came from fast food restaurants. Maybe someday he’ll want them in his own home, but for now, I’m happy to see them every day as a reminder of the little boy who shared his mom’s interests . . . if only tangentially, and only for a little while.
Data was cool
ReplyDeleteyouve been to conventions? years ago I use to know a girl from here in New Zealand who went to USA to go to one of those
how many have you been to over the years?
neat cups
were you ever involved in any of his hobbies
Im going to get into kea training soon
my youngest has been a kea for about a year now :)
I've been to lots of cons over the years. In addition to random events, there were two that I used to go to every year, one locally and one out in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, finances and time became an issue a few years ago and I haven't made it to either of them. The local one (well, a couple hours away, but still in the same state) was just last weekend, so it'll be at least another year before I make it to one, I guess.
DeleteUp until recently, Billy's biggest hobby was music. He likes just about all kinds--well, except the kind I like! Still, I liked hearing about it from him, and he kept a blog of his own for a while that I would try to read and have better understanding of his interests. He's kind of moved away from that now, but I think he'll get back to it eventually.
I had to google kea; horse riding/showing? That's cool.