' That there's enough to them, as individuals, for me to respect and accept.' That there's enough to them, as individuals, for me to respect and accept." "What about their parents?" "Parents aren't enough, Ken. Parents love their children almost unconditionally. That's not acceptance, that's blind familial love. Boys don't accept that as enough." I smiled. "Girls don't either." He grinned back. "Not yours, at any rate. We raised one scrappy pair, Ken." "Yep," I said, remembering. "So you represent... what?" "Everybody else. All adults. I'm someone new, part of that vast 'them' that's been outside their experience until now, who accepts then conditionally. 'Are you enough to be an adult?' I ask. And I show them that they can meet those conditions, and what adults will expect of them as adults. "Two," he said, holding up his next finger, "I'm a mentor. Khai wants to be a pilot. I can't show him everything, but I can tutor him, fly buddy with him when he needs a co-pilot, and when he screws up I can be there to scream at him, then hug him, then tell him to do try it again and get it right. |