Growing Up In Pages

What do you get for your son when he turns thirteen?

I got him some new bearings and wheels for his skateboard.

But I wanted something, something that would let him know that he has entered a new phase in life. He has slowly been shedding the markings of boyhood the last few years and now can officially claim the right to his path to manhood.

Becoming a man doesn't happen with the flip of a switch. It is a journey and a process without a doubt. For some it takes a lifetime. And for some people, they never become one; they just aimlessly wonder the planet in some twisted man-boy universe.

So I dug through my boxes of books, books that have no room to live in my meager one bedroom apartment, and tried to find him a tome that could only be passed down from father to son.

He recently told me that he didn't like to read. I told him I didn't like to read at his age either. The problem with reading, I informed him, is that it helps to like what you are reading. Until I discovered what I like to read, it was a chore. But once I sink my teeth into something enjoyable, I devour each page racing to see where the story takes me and how it will end.

I found a timeless classic bury in one of the boxes...

I gave my dog eared copy of The Catcher In The Rye.

Curious to see what he makes of it.