Early Admission
One of the signs that Redding is not all it could be is the foreign sound of places like Brown, Yale, and Princeton. Those teens who are tracked to a college degree are not aiming for the Ivy League. Not they or Smith, Mt. Holyoke or Radcliffe are the be-all and end-all, it would just be nice if there were more people I could tell who would understand my excitement that my nephew got early admission to Harvard. I thought to say that he got a football scholarship, but he didn't; he earned his spot with his mind and character.
Henry is not only very bright — he aced Roxbury Latin School on his way to Cambridge — but he also is a jazz ace who plays at least two instruments; he paints, plays sports, and most important, he's a way-cool dude. He must get some of those qualities from his eccentric California uncle. Let's see...not the music, not the painting, not the sports, and not up to the level of way-cool. Hmm. Well, um, I took Latin.
I wasn't surprised about Henry's getting into Harvard, or even early acceptance. They would have been dumber 'n a poke in the eye with a sharp stick not to have seized this fine youth to their ivy breast. In fact, I asked how much they were gonna pay Henry to attend and raise the standards of their prestigious institution, but apparently they're just writin' the ticket; my sister and her husband are paying it. Big bucks. Over $30K a year, to start. And ole Hank is talkin' medical school, which would be another quarter-mil. Gasp.
Henry is going to thrive at Harvard. He will be in his milieu of bright academes, and he will bring his own dear constitution to the formal intellectualizing process. Whatever direction he chooses, he will come out on top, smiling and generous, as well as smart and effective. Now you might think I'm jus' an uncle crowing about a nephew, but it's more than that. It's people like Henry who will make the important discoveries, in whatever field(s), and will pioneer a better way — not only of thinking — but of being; and of being part of the community.
His parents worked very hard to support their children, and it has paid off for all of us who know them. A few years behind Henry is Lewis, who — and I'm saying this in hushed tones — may well be smarter than his older brother. I say this not because he truly appreciates my jokes, irrefutable evidence of a keen intellect, but because it might well be true. The boys' grandpa, also sometimes referred to as my father, is humbled by the quality of these two fine human beings, and he's not the humbled type.
I find it very encouraging that Henry and Lewis are in the pipeline. With my hair thinning in my crown, with the need for specs becoming more frequent, and with Linda threatening to retire — No, not that spring chicken! — I've been a little nervous about on whom we might rely in our golding years. With these two fellows fast-tracking to dizzying pinnacles of success, I feel that I can rest easier.
And that's SetonnoteS...I'm Tony Seton.
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