Letters From Home
Patreus is calling for a drawdown of troops
Son, General Patreus has just called for a ‘drawdown’ in U.S. Troops in Iraq. He is trying to explain what he means – I am getting confused with all of the details. That is the problem. This is a complicated issue with huge consequences…. Now Patreus is reiterating the dire consequences of a rapid retreat…. […]
10Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Patreus is calling for a drawdown of troops | Continued
Listening to General Patreus
Son, I am listening to General Patreus right now. The hearing opened with partisan statements by two Democrats and two Republicans. I wish those folks would just keep their faces shut so we can hear what the man has to say. They already threw several protesters out of the hearing – the partisan showmanship should […]
10Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 2 comments | Continued
The question – What did I learn from my Dad
Son, In an earlier post I recounted an experience with my father. I was robbed, he reacted with anger and violence. I asked in the post, “What did I learn?” The post was titled “1963 – parenting in a tough world.” It is only with forty-five years of processing that I can answer the question. […]
9Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on The question – What did I learn from my Dad | Continued
Enabling Our Children to Fail
Son, Please forgive me. You mentioned in an earlier post that you “…occasionally found myself in trouble.” I share in the fault. I will give you the notion that you were an adolescent, seeking independence and control of your own life. I will give you that adolescents make some bad choices. But I have to […]
9Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Enabling Our Children to Fail | Continued
Parenting, mythology and reality
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 […]
9Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Parenting, mythology and reality | Continued
Getting Tools From My Dad
Dad, Thanks for all of your encouragement. You probably remember when I was in the Navy and I occasionally found myself in trouble. You probably remember because it lasted for a couple of years. When I decided to turn over a new leaf, it was hard because not everyone was convinced that I was different […]
8Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on Getting Tools From My Dad | Continued
1963 – Parenting in a tough world
Son, I was out collecting money from my paper route patrons. It was the week after John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. I was walking in the 1800 block of Felix Street when three older boys approached me; they were about 19 – I was 13. They told me to give them my money. I […]
8Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on 1963 – Parenting in a tough world | Continued
Finding Acceptance – The Beginnings of Discrimination
Son, Four year old children see the world as we do – but they do not have the same life experience. She goes to school and feels the nuances of acceptance and rejection. We are inherently social creatures and have a need for acceptance in a group. This need fits the category of survival instincts. […]
8Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Finding Acceptance – The Beginnings of Discrimination | Continued
Brevity in Small Packages
Dad, My daughter had been in school now for several weeks. She only does two days a week, but this is her first experience away from home. Yesterday, at breakfast, she told me that she didn’t want to go to school. “Its not all playing, Dad. We have to do group time, and singing songs.” […]
7Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on Brevity in Small Packages | Continued
Comments on Courage
Courage is not acting blindly – without regard to consequences. Courage is action on behalf of conviction – even knowing the consequences may be painful. We see courage in our everyday lives – people regularly sacrifice something of themselves for a higher cause.
7Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Comments on Courage | Continued
The pain of cultural frontiers
Son, You are exploring cultural frontiers. You have left the safe harbor of familiarity to seek new ideas about living. Like Lewis and Clark, you find fear and uncertainty. I admire your courage. What is courage, Son? When people act on their convictions, even knowing that there will be pain associated with their behavior, we […]
7Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 2 comments | Continued
The Right to the Faith of Our Choice.
Fortunately for all of us – we have a government of laws, guided by a constitution. Keep your own faith and be active in the political process. Have faith that the world is actually getting better – some days it doesn’t feel like it – but humanity is progressing in the concept of civilization.
7Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on The Right to the Faith of Our Choice. | Continued
Fundamentalism: The Right To Be Wrong
Dad, I suppose that you are right, that mine is a family that would only be described as “non-traditional” by Focus on the Family. I don’t pretend to believe that they have a solid grasp on the traditions of family systems. I think that the danger of allowing the fundamentalist to paint the larger American […]
6Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on Fundamentalism: The Right To Be Wrong | Continued
Imposing Our Culture On Others
Son, Sometimes we are a little hard on contemporary Christian fundamentalists. We don’t like their aggressive evangelism – their attempts to force their culture on us. That is a statement of perspective – their perspective might be that they are trying to save us from going to hell. Christianity has as rich history of abusing […]
6Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Imposing Our Culture On Others | Continued
Non-traditional families – what is that?
Son, You note that yours is a ‘non-traditional’ family. I don’t quite get it. There is a loving, married, mother and father, a daughter and a son, all living under one roof. You and your spouse worry about the health, safety, and future of your family. The description of your family describes the traditional family […]
6Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Non-traditional families – what is that? | Continued
On being a Democrat
Son, You happen to live in a state that has a presidential primary. Thus there is a practical need to declare a party affiliation. I like your choice for the Democratic candidate – but like many others I have reservations. Like most others, I want the corruption of a very good government system to end. […]
6Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on On being a Democrat | Continued
So, I’m a Democrat…
Dad, I am becoming keenly aware that there are really three people that are involved in this blog. Me, you, and the reader. Unlike traditional letters, this form of communication is expressly public, and we embrace that difference so that others may benefit from the conversation that takes place here. I have changed the look, […]
5Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on So, I’m a Democrat… | Continued
A product of…well, you…
Dad, I have too many irons in the fire, so to speak. I like my life that way. I start projects often, and I am learning how to chip away at them until they start to take shape. I have three blogs, a podcast, two children with whom I am the primary care provider, six […]
4Sep2007 | bryan | Comments Off on A product of…well, you… | Continued
Have I overwhelmed my Son?
Son, As you know, I am an animated and verbose person. Those traits have served me and hindered me. I have used my personality to convey meaning, to articulate finer points, to debate, and to WIN. I fear that I have also used my wordiness to overwhelm, as a defense mechanism to keep others at […]
4Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Have I overwhelmed my Son? | Continued
All Politics is local – candidates for President
Son, Speaking of Social Security – who has the best plan? When Franklin D. Roosevelt came up with the idea he cleverly gave his plan a name that few could argue with. Who could argue with the idea of being socially secure – everyone wants that! Forty years later Lyndon B. Johnson added Medicare. Another […]
4Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on All Politics is local – candidates for President | Continued
Family Support
Son, I was at a Bantam League Football game yesterday, watching your nephew play. This is his first year of tackle football – he is in the third grade. Your Mom and older sister were there. We had a nice chat. Your younger sister and her husband just closed on a new house on Friday. […]
2Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Family Support | Continued
I think I’ll have a seat
Son – I have read your introductory entry. You have addressed the reader – so shall I. My son has asked me to write with him. With him, to him, at him – something, I’m not quite sure. I read his first post, the introduction to this blog. He said the purpose was not a […]
22Aug2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on I think I’ll have a seat | Continued
come on in. have a seat.
I believe that the hope with these articles is to document a journey of conversation that happens between two generations, a father and son, and to find a way to leverage that journey to make ourselves better; more thoughtful, more aware, more connected. You will find two remarkably similar writers and persons, and you will […]
21Aug2007 | bryan | 1 comment | Continued