All people are different. The reason I am stating the simple fact is because this blog will  discuss the fact that, though my son, Eric, and I share some of the same genes,(half to be exact) we’re still two entirely different people, in what we do, what we like and what kind of people we are. And that simply fascinates me.

     Even though the paragraph above states such simple facts, being a father has boosted my interest in the human chain of development and of how a person develops physically and emotionally as they grow older.

   Our(wife Ann and I’s) respective lives involved different sports interests since our  childhoods. Ann was a swimmer through high school and, for a few years, she enjoyed following Florida State football while she was a student there.

  My resume included playing baseball and basketball from the time that I was 8 right through high school, where I continued to play just baseball. I’ve also been a Cowboys and Yankee fan since I was little.  Because of Ann and I’s interests(and admittedly average abilities ), I assumed that Eric would somewhat naturally be drawn to playing sports. I was wrong and I couldn’t be happier.  Here’s why:

    Eric, who is now 14, began acting and singing when he was just fours years old, participating in a Musical Review at the Warner Theater in Torrington(CT). Since then, he has performed in roughly 20 more plays, performing with an uplifting confidence and excitement every single show.

  I was one of those kids who, after just one play and a tiny part said, “Enough is enough.”   The name of play was The Little Red Hen, and I had, you guessed it, just one line: “Not I said the fox.” The end. That is the only time that I performed in any plays and other type of entertainment.

  Interestingly enough, Eric has developed into a very good actor,singer and dancer who, I believe, is happiest and most comfortable on a stage. A few of his plays that are standing out to me as I write this are Billy Elliott: The Musical in which he played Michael, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer where he played Huck Finn and Godspell where Eric was Lamar. Even playing sports, I myself only had one memorable game: a 1980 All-Star game in which I pitched a shutout, had 12 or 13 strikeouts and had my picture in a local newspaper(Torrington Register).

   Even as I write this, Eric is at another rehearsal for his next play,Steel Pier. This play is another one of his school-Waterbury Arts Magnet School- shows that will be presented in March. Eric’s character is named a Happy, a 20-something man who enters a marathon dance(ballroom) contest at Steel Pier in Atlantic City. The best part, for me, about Eric being in this particular play is that he was one of only a handful of middle school students to get a part in this show.

     Yes, I imagine it would be an understatement to say that I just as I’ll continue to watch and follow certain sports and sports teams-Cowboys, Yanks and Cubs. And, unlike my very brief sports-playing career, I’m very confident that Eric, an honor student, will go a long way no matter whether he decides to pursue a career in theater…or any other profession.