Jack

Kenneth told me a story earlier. A story about fathers and sons and despite my best effort it unearthed a memory from my own childhood. As a boy I wanted to be an astronaut or a deep-sea diver or a man of science, but I was raised by Jimmy Donagy, a man who projected his own failed dreams onto his family. When I was in third grade my class put on a science play. The night before, Jimmy came home drunk and found me rehearsing my lines. I was struggling with the science terms and Jimmy laughed and said [in an Irish accent] "Well looky here. Doctor Jack, the boy who wants to be a scientist. Chowderhead can't even say the words! You'll never be nothing!" The next day I was up on that stage. I looked out at the audience, I saw Jimmy and I froze.