Son,

The Navy finished a job that I was unable to accomplish. You transitioned from an adolescent into a young man. Joseph Campbell might say this was a normal process. The mythology of parenting over the recorded history of man suggests, according to Campbell, that the mother and father each have roles, but the village must complete the task. There is a point in every young man’s life where he must go out with the other men of the tribe, other than his father, and mature his masculinity. The Navy may have provided that opportunity for you. This is not to say that the military is a necessary component in every young man’s life. The necessary component is the mentoring of other adult men other than one’s father.

Dad