August 15
Today Jeremy turns 16. We were living in England when
he was born, and we gave him three names — Jeremy for a
liberal politician we admired, David for his father, and Owen
for Wilfred Owen, a World War 1 poet who died Battle. The
first two names would have been enough.
…… For the past few weeks we’ve been practicing his driving
over at the cemetery, where to roads are quiet. Mr. Tanzi has
a natural bolder for a gravestone. I told Jeremy I’d like
something along that line, and he shifted gears. It’s strange
having a child in the driver’s seat, but I don’t get as nervous as
I thought I would. Jeremy’s careful. The other day he passed
through the cemetery gate and onto a living road.
by Nancy Lagomarsino
from The Secretary Parables
Alice James Books, 1991