Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea. —Henry Fielding

25 February 2005

Good Old Dad.

Yesterday, I sent the following as part of an email to my father:
Aaron is in a bad mood today.
I think I'm really kind of freaking out about this grad school thing. If I don't get in, I just have to figure so much shit out. I have to reevaluate everything.

Dad responded with this:
Take heart. If you do not get in immediately, then you will spend another year building your credentials and perhaps seeking out other schools that you had not previously considered. Those rats (in admissions) may use RE-application as a criterion, and reject every first time applicant. Do not get in a funk. Hearken back to the Biblical message that all things work together for good. That is the only metaphysical reference I have, but I am sure even some frickn monk of another belief system must have a “learned-grasshopper” saying of that type. Things work out. Fretting isn’t getting.

You do follow the Thomas DNA of excess analysis: attempting to compute all permutations of the next events. I hate to see your undies in a bunch when you do not even know the outcome.

I from time to time ponder some of the information that I failed to pass on to you. One of those things was the tendency toward cowardice that I have. That probably was not as evident as you were growing up as my anger. I tended to fret so much over negative outcomes that it paralyzed me on some occasions. I find this happens far less frequently as a 47-year-old. That information might have helped with your DNA being similar. Why that never occurred to me to share is now a mystery (and probably not the only one)

Cheers.

I don't really remember my father's anger too much. I don't know why even mentioned it. But I felt very encouraged by my father's note.

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