The Curse of the Hile Males, Part Two

A few weeks ago, on the occasion of his birthday, I wrote a post reminding my oldest son Michael of the Curse of the Hile Males. Things just seem to happen to us that we really can’t explain, and as we come up on my youngest son Justin’s birthday, some things bear reminding as to the implications for us male Hiles. So, I made a list.

First of all, go for it, dude. Life’s short. One time when Justin was little, his siblings and I stopped at a hamburger joint of some sort on our way from Oregon to California. We were all hungry but I made a joke that was part of an ongoing meme we had been enjoying for awhile. I told them we only had enough money for one small hamburger. Everyone laughed and Mike, Lindsay, and I all ordered our favorite meals, with burgers, fries, and super-sized this and extra double that, and when it came time for Justin he looked up at the counter and said, “Could I have a small cheeseburger, please?”

At the same time, don’t be stupid. You have shown great courage with some of your life choices — like moving across the country for a better life — and you deserve kudos, but others have, well, missed the mark. I once took Justin to a San Francisco Giants game at Pac Bell Park in the City. They were playing the Los Angeles Dodgers and if you don’t know anything about baseball trust me — there has been a bitter rivalry between the two teams for at least a century. So we took BART into the City and then a streetcar from the Embarcadero to the ballpark. The streetcar was filled to the brim with Giants fan, most of whom were all dressed out in their orange and black regalia. All except for one guy — Justin — wearing a Dodger blue cap. Don’t be that guy anymore, kiddo. Should have seen that one coming.

Third, and this is a crucial one, should you ever have the opportunity to do some indoor plumbing remodeling, upgrade to a larger pipe size. We’ll just leave it at that.

And in all things, celebrate your gifts. One of those, which you inherited from many of your Hile males (myself not being one of them), is the gift of music. Back in my church pastor days, we all arrived at church early one Sunday morning and as I was going about my pre-service routine, I heard the church keyboard playing. I thought to myself that our music director must have arrived early, as well, as the music was quite good. Turns out it was Justin, who had sat down and started composing a song on an instrument he had never played before.

And so, as we celebrate Christmas, let us also celebrate Justin and wish him a happy birthday, knowing full well that he will use his many gifts to continue to make this world a better place. Have a happy birthday, my son. Just stop wearing Dodger blue in public and you’ll be fine …