Please Don't Be Like Me

Dear Malcolm,

“Please don’t be like me,” I said descending the steps of Andrew Gerow Hodges Chapel at Beeson Divinity School.  I had just parted with one of the worst papers I have yet to scribe due to either my consternation or my procrastination—likely a mixture of both—and this dictum was fresh on my cranial lobe.  It seems as though I put myself into this position time and time again and these photo finishes are not the ones you will want to see in your own highlight reel.  My lowlights are littered with a collage of such images and it is not becoming.  It is frustrating for your mother beyond degree and for me in order to get one.  It robs you of real rest, gives you undue stress, and leaves others as those staring at black screens on a holiday weekend only to see “delayed.” 

“Please don’t be like me,” part wish, part command.  Part of me that needs to be wrested from my confines and part of you, for your own sake, you never have to see.  Maybe we can work together on this; I’m sure your mother will appreciate it.

Love,

Dad