Jeremy M. Praay wrote:
 > I had that type of relationship with some of my uncles as well.  I
 > remember having at least a couple long talks with 2 of them in
 > particular (individually).  I could talk to them about things I
 > would never mention to my parents.  In fact, I believe that my
 > life probably would be quite different if I hadn't had those few
 > long conversations.

Then maybe I can do some good (do you remember the topics of these 
conversations?), but I need to start by setting a better example.

I have been feeling pretty bad about something that happened a few 
months ago. I was a real food Nazi when I worked in an office, but since 
moving to outdoor employment, I have started to relax a bit, relying on 
my job to keep me lean. That's wrong, because my job won't keep me 
healthy, just healthy-looking (if you call a grown man at 160 lbs 
healthy-looking). Anyway, I was recently at a party at my niece's 
mother's house and was cutting a cake I had made when my niece walked 
into the room. I offered her a piece, which she refused. I KNEW she was 
refusing because she knows that she needs to improve on the junk food 
diet on which she has been raised. She's not overweight, but she is 
ahead of schedule. At 13, she weighs as much as my 33yo wife. I should 
have refused the cake myself, especially since I knew why my niece was 
refusing it. I should have said, "You're right, kid, f*** that cake. 
Tastes like sh** anyway." I HAVE been that smart many times in the past, 
but that day I wasn't. I cut myself a slice and ate it, leaving my 
niece, as the one person in the room sane enough to try and take care of 
herself, all alone. Naturally, she eventually succumbed and had a slice 
herself.

Can't take back the past, but that is the last time anything like that 
will happen. I need to think about these things because my wife and I 
might have a kid ourselves. I don't want to live a lie (or a mostly, but 
not completely true) in front of my kid. One of the artists I linked to 
in my "Lucky to have seen it" post declares on her myspace page that she 
is "interested in natural health, yoga, spirituality, healing, the 
vedas, meditation ... and things of that nature," yet I saw her at the 
bar smoking, drinking, and carrying around an ass through which I'm 
quite sure many a cheeseburger had passed. I'm losing faith in people. 
*I* have to BE what I want to see - want my kid to see - in the world.

  -Shay

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