Cat's In The Cradle Ch. 02

After a few chuckles, Senator Marsden continued: "General Troy's skills within the Agency were inherited from his mother... and his integrity and leadership were inherited from his father, James Donald Troy, whose Police record includes multiple Medals of Valor, Purple Orders for being wounded in the line of duty, and of course the Presidential Medal of Freedom. With a heritage like this, we shall indeed sleep well in the knowledge that General Troy's leadership of the CIA will keep us safe from our many enemies, and his integrity will keep his Agency safe from the false smears of its enemies."

The Chairman said "General Troy, and Senator Troy, is that your father sitting behind the you?"

Jim looked back at me and said "Yes Senator, it is."

"Would your father please stand and be recognized." said the Chairman.

Jim quickly got up and turned, grabbed my hand in an interlocking-thumb grasp, and pretty much pulled me to my feet. As the entire room stood and applauded, Jim gave me a hug and whispered "Love you, Dad."

"I love you, too, son." I whispered back. Jim let go and joined the sustained applause, which I acknowledged with a wave, especially towards one of my Crowbar Crew, Susie Haskins Marsden.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We were at Joint Base Andrews. The Air Force plane was ready to depart, to take young Donald and me back home. "What good is being the next CIA Director, if I can't pull a few strings?" Jim said.

I chuckled. "Your mother used to say that, too." I said, feeling a wave of emotion. I gave him a hug and said "I'm proud of you, son. And come visit every once in a while, will ya?"

"I'll try, Dad." said Jim. Then I hugged and spoke to Ian, asking him to make a campaign promise to come visit more often, also. Meanwhile, Jim spoke to his son.

"Well, son," Jim said, "I haven't always been there for you like I wanted to. I have always wondered if we made the right decision for you." He and his wife had allowed, or maybe sent, Don to live with his Aunt Carole and attend school in the Town & County for his middle school and high school years.

"It worked out, Dad." Don said. "To be honest, I never saw that much of you when I was growing up living with you. I understood, and Grandma would be very proud of you. We all had to make sacrifices, for the country."

He held up his red crowbar, the crowbar that I had used to defeat the Slender Man in personal combat. "And it worked out well." he said.

"Yeah." said Jim. "And I'm very proud of what you've done. You're the Iron Crowbar now; that's... something special. Carole made the right decision, for once in her life." Father and son chuckled at the joke.

"We've got to go, Don." I called out. After final hugs, my grandson and I boarded the plane, which was luxurious. The pilot, an Air Force Colonel, came back and told me it was an honor to meet me and to fly me home. I thanked him and asked him to give my compliments to his crew and my thanks for their military service.

After we took off, leaving Washington D.C. behind, the stewardess, an attractive Air Force enlisted woman, asked for our drink orders. "Scotch on the rocks." I said, wanting something cold. Don had Cherry Coca-Cola Zero; he never drank alcohol.

And as we flew into the night, I thought about our lives. Jim was driven by wanting to make his mother proud of him, and by his desire to serve our Nation. As a result, I had not seen much of him during his adult life, which made me appreciate going to his ball games and spending time building Legos and train layouts with him. And as a result of his life's work, Jim had missed a lot of time with his son, who now carried the legacy of the Iron Crowbar. I understood Jim's choices, but I knew that when I went to sleep eternally, I'd do so with no regrets...

"And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me...

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son? I don't know when,
but we'll get together then, dad
You know we'll have a good time then...

Finis.