My Boys Didn't Believe Me

My sons didn't believe me and I was crushed. Actually, they made fun of me which hurt all the more and I couldn't understand it.

Yesterday evening, playing golf in the Thursday night Men's League at the White Oak Golf Course in Marissa, my tee shot on #2 rolled up to the 100 yard marker, just a bit to the right of center on the fairway. I had never hit a shot that far on that fairway before and, knowing that both of our older boys regularly hit it that far and even farther, I stopped and took a picture of the ball with the yardage marker in the background with my cell phone, saving it to send to the boys and Nancy later. After the round was over (No, I will not tell you my score for the round, but suffice it to say, I always get my money's worth.), I took a few moments to bring the picture up from the Gallery, prepared it to Share, and added a message explaining the picture.

It didn't take long for the responses to come in: (Matt) "Yeah, I'm not believing you hit a 420 yard drive . . . from the men's tees. Those senior tees are treating you well!"; (Ched) "Oh wow. Hell of a tailwind, eh?"; and, not to be left out of the fun, (Ray) "Did you tee off from the green and play the hole backwards?" Nice guys, my sons! I wasn't sure how to respond, but just laughed it off granting each of them the amnesty of having a good time at their Dad's expense. Thursday night crowds can be tough on the golf circuit. (Mind you, Nancy didn't say anything through all of this, loyal and dutiful wife she is.)

Later in the evening, as Nancy and I were getting ready for bed, my cell phone rings and it was Matt. Curiosity was killing the cat, I thought as I waited to see where the call was going to go. And, as always with Matt, it didn't take but a moment: "Okay, Dad, tell me where you were, what hole you were on and how the ball flew that far." "What do you mean?" I replied, "I was at White Oak, on #2, and my drive went to the 100 yard marker, and I parred it. What's so hard to believe about that?" Matt said, "Well, there's nothing hard to believe about that, but what you said in your text with the picture was, "My drive on 4. That's the 100 yard marker across the way. Par."

Suddenly it all made sense! I had inadvertently typed in the wrong hole number, which is no small difference. Number 2 is a 398 yard hole, making my drive 298 yards. Number 4 is a 523 yard hole, which would have made my drive 423 yards, leaving the likes of Tiger and Phil in the dust. No wonder my boys were making such fun of me! After laughing at the irony and humor of it all, I hung up with Matt and texted Ray and Ched and explained the gaff, taking them off the hook for their apparent lack of faith and making fun of my own texting ineptitude.

Finally, laying down and watching the last of the Cardinal game and the news, smiling at the exchange between the boys and myself, I began to relax. Somewhere in the twilight of sleep it occurred to me: 'The boys really didn't believe me! Not that they should have, given the context of the situation, but the boys really didn't believe me!' Coming fully awake, I pondered the thought of that, then smiled all over again, 'We've raised our boys well and they question everything which seems out of the ordinary or out of line. And, if they can do that with that own Dad about a golf story, how much more likely are they to do that in the things that really matter?'

My sons didn't believe me . . . and that is quite alright. I slept well last night and I hope you did, too