Monday, February 24, 2025
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Jack is sixteen, going on seventeen
Before all other things wisdom was created, prudent understanding from eternity.
Pretty special day for our oldest grandchild, Jac , who is not a child anymore.
Because he has had a learner’s permit for several months, he drove me to Texas Roadhouse last week for a birthday dinner, just Jack and me. We ate steak and potatoes, and talked about our lives so far. We asked each other a few questions.
Both of us have read J. R. R. Tolkien. In Chapter 1 of Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo Baggins is preparing for his eleventy-first birthday party, when he’ll be 111 years old. Bilbo is “remarkably well preserved.”
Tolkien points out that hobbits celebrate birthdays by giving things away, unlike humans. Bilbo was giving everything in his house away, because he was secretly preparing to disappear when the party was at its height. I asked Jack what he had been given that he was especially thankful for. And … what would he give away?
He talked about his gift of memory, which manifested very early in his life.  At age three and four he could recognize states and name their capitals, he could remember names of the presidents, and more. Learning comes easy to him, and for the last several years Jack has excelled as a member of his school’s scholastic bowl team, first in middle school and now at Pleasant Plains High School. Facts stick, and he recalls them.
To whom has wisdom’s root been revealed? Who knows her subtleties? To whom has the discipline of wisdom been revealed? And who has understood the multiplicity of her ways?
What would he give away? He thought right away of his current scholastic bowl team members, and how much he wanted to encourage them. The team wins nearly every meet they enter. But he knows that not everyone on the team can relax and just play the game. Sometimes it’s his role not to just have fun, but to help everyone else have fun too.
Then it was my turn. Jack asked me what it was like for me to turn 16. I had a ’54 two-tone Chevy Belair, I felt more free from farm responsibilities, my girlfriend and I took a few short trips. It was a wonderful time for me, and I loved sharing stories with Jack. More than ever, I realized that our presence as grandparents in our four, nearly five, grandkids’ lives matters more than any special trips we take or fun projects we do together. Just being there assures them, in a deep way, of our love reflecting God’s love.
Later I discovered a treasure trove of YouTube videos of Jack at a much younger age. There are several videos of him swimming with his parents when he was six months old. One of them has 8.5 million views. We can watch him learning to walk. When he was nearly four he read his favorite book to his new sister Aly. He and his dad lip synched along with Katy Perry the next year. Jack and Aly put together a happy-dance for Melissa on Mother’s Day in 2015.
He is growing up. In second grade he put together a presentation on Japan (his uncle Aki’s parents are Japanese). For his eighth birthday, Chris and Jack went to a Chicago Bulls basketball game. And for his sixteenth birthday he and his dad were in Madison Square Garden to watch the Illini play Duke University (two days ago).
No doubt Jack’s life has been rich with opportunity and accomplishment. He and his family love each other very much. Margaret and I, and his Granny Jan, feel so grateful to have been part of his life for sixteen years. No matter what, we’ll be grateful still for as many years as God gives us.
The Lord has poured forth his wisdom upon all his works, upon every living thing according to his bounty and lavished her upon his friends.
(Sirach 1, Psalm 93, 2 Timothy 1, Mark 9)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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