Some people have all the fun. To wit, my granddaughter, Aydan Grace Connally. At age 2 months, she has already gone to the beach, gone to parties, gone to graduation ceremonies (OK, maybe that was a little boring), and gone to happy hour at The Melting Pot. She didn’t even get carded. On top of all this, she spends hours a day with her friend and “big brother” Jack, who so adores her that it is a major crisis for him when he can’t be there to help change her diaper.
Kim, Patrick and Aydan on the North Carolina coast
Why does Aydan get to have all the fun?
Hmmm. Well, maybe it’s because she’s the daughter of Patrick Connally. If there hadn’t been fun in the world before Patrick was born, he would have invented it. Fun, as C.S. Lewis said, is closely related to joy, and since Patrick has such a predisposition to enjoy life and people, he concocts fun. And he does it without the stupidity and debauchery that people call fun when they’re basically unhappy. Here is a sampling of the fun things Patrick has done in his young adult years:
- Playing guitar (you knew I had to throw that in, right?)
- Making friends all over the world
- Brewing good beer with friends
- Hosting beer-sampling parties in which no one gets drunk
- Finding a “sculpture” (a.k.a. some old lawn tool, I think)and installing said sculpture among the shrubbery of a college campus
- Helping friends plan their marriage proposals
- Liking and spending time with other people’s children
- Chuckling over other people’s idiosyncrasies instead of being annoyed with them
- Marrying a beautiful young woman who’s as big-hearted as he is
- Getting to know his wife’s extended family (and that’s a lot of people!)
- Getting together with his brothers and naming themselves the Fraternal Council
- Becoming head spokesman of said Fraternal Council and, as such, dispensing advice to his parents (“Dad, it was moved, seconded and carried in the Fraternal Council that you get more exercise.”)
- Collecting Beautiful Angle posters
- Making movies with church youth group kids
- Visiting eastern Europe (which people don’t usually think of as fun in the same way that Hawaii is, but when you’re Patrick Connally, you connect with people and you have a great time in Belgrade or Warsaw)
- Discussing politics intelligently
- Staying in touch with friends far away
- Adoring his wife
- Adoring his little daughter and taking her to the beach.
Anybody want to follow Pat’s example? Have fun!
