The noted South American author Gabriel Garcia Marquez once wrote that when a son grasps his father's finger for the first time he has stolen the man's heart forever.

Being the father of a son, I can relate to that.

I have a beautiful, little blond-haired, blue-eyed boy who calls me 'daddy' or sometimes 'Kevin,' because he is just making the connection between the two names. I am 'daddy' and I am 'Kevin.'

He is bright and smart and may possibly be one of the first children to ever graduate college without first reaching puberty. (Ridiculous, I know. But I'm sure we all think our children clones of Albert Einstein at some point in life.)

He likes tractors (he'll be a farmer, I imagine).

He likes trains (an engineer, my assumption).

He likes guitars and pianos (a musician, I envision).

He's tall for his age and appears to be destined for height. Ah-hah! Then he'll be a point guard or a pitcher or a NFL wide receiver because he loves to play ball.

And he can take care of his parents when he signs his first, multi-million dollar contract. I've always been partial to the Gulf Coast as far as living goes, I'll tell him.

Certainly not a cowboy as advised Waylon and Willie, but maybe a doctor or lawyer or such.

His mind works like a trial lawyer's because like a minature Perry Mason he caught me in a lie and set me up to fall

beautifully. My parents had Cockatill named Sonny. It had belonged to my grandmother and when she died my mother took the old bird and cared for it. It died one night. My son asked where Sonny was.

"He's in Heaven," we told him.

"Where's Sonny's cage?" He asked, innocently.

"It's in Heaven with him," I said.

"No. It's out there," and he pointed to the dark shadows of my parents' garage outside. Sure enough, there was Sonny's cage.

I was caught fibbing by a two-year old.

He also loves cartoons. Charlie Brown. Winnie the Pooh. The Wiggles.

Now, there's something to really wrap your hands around - the Wiggles. Four grown men jump around in colorful turtlenecks playing musical instruments. They're like grown-up Teletubbies. They've got friends with names like Wags the Dog, Dorothy the Dinosaur and Captain Feathersword. There's one of their video tapes with the Crocodille Hunter Steve Irwin that's really cool. It's in the Australian Zoo and there are all types of dingoes and snakes and songs…

I…

I mean, my son…can sit fascinated for hours.

Kevin Pearcey is editor of The Luverne Journal. He can be reached at

335-3541 or

via email at kevin.pearcey@ luvernejournal.com