The man-boy upstairs

There was a time when seven people lived in our house. It was loud, chaotic, fun, occasionally frustrating, and always exhausting.

Now there are three of us left here: Terry, me, and our youngest son, Jack, a wickedly smart and funny kid.

Or should I say "wickedly smart and funny young man?" Or just "man?" I don't know how to classify Jack. On one hand, he's 6-feet-2 and has had a voice like James Earl Jones since he was about 13. He looks and sounds like a young adult.

But there are times when he seems very much like the 17-year-old boy he is. That's not a knock against him. 17-year-old boys are what they are. Generally speaking, they're not as responsible or as mature as 17-year-old girls, at least in my experience.

Still, Jack has it together in ways I simply didn't when I was his age, and I admire him for that. In other ways, however, he's still trying to figure out a direction in life, which is perfectly fine. He is, after all, only 17.

He's in the process of learning about money and jobs and responsibility and everything that comes with being a legal adult, which again it should be noted he is not yet. Having skipped a grade many years ago, he graduated high school in May at 17 years, 3 1/2 months old.

Given his status as a younger graduate, Terry, Jack and I decided early on that a year of community college would be good for him. If nothing else, it would help him get used to managing his own affairs in a somewhat low-pressure environment before taking on the challenge of a four-year university.

Given his laudable performance on the high school AP Calculus exam, Jack got put into a college calc II/physics class at Lakeland Community College this past fall for which he was not at all ready. He quickly dropped that course and instead enrolled in a regular calc I class, but even that proved challenging for him despite having taken the subject before.

Jack's academic confidence was shot. Like many a smart kid before him, he had never really learned how to study, how to ask for and get help, and how to deal with a daunting academic challenge.

So he dropped both of his community college courses and instead started working to earn some money while figuring out an alternative path for his future. He eventually decided on a career in the trades, and as I type this, he's specifically targeting becoming an electrician.

That's a laudable goal. This country needs tradespeople, and as everyone is quick to point out to him, the money is good.

Is Jack suited to a career in electrical work? I have no idea. I hope he is, because as a parent, all you want is for them to be healthy, happy and fueled by purpose. You can have all three of those things in any sort of career, as they're in no way dependent on exactly how you make a living.

I just wish I could be of more help to him. I wish I could give him better guidance through what I'm sure is an uncertain and perhaps even unsettling time in his life. Whatever he chooses to do, I just want the path to become clear to him.

Jack is in the process of becoming whatever Jack is going to be. As someone who has been down that road already many years ago myself, I think a lot about the emerging man living in the first bedroom on the right at the top of the stairs.

There will come a time when it will all work out for him, I know.

Until then, his dad prays for him a lot.