I Know
I am 21 attending UT Austin
By being a dorm counselor
And in love since 1965 with a
Woman 26 with no money but
Working as a radio programmer
In San Antonio with two sons
Ages 7 and 5 to whom I have
Been a father for two years.
We meet each fortnight but
She has had to deal with the
Seven-year-old walking out of
School and uncontrollable for
Which she has followed advice
From a child psychologist who
Puts the child into the Galveston
Child Psychiatric Clinic for winter
Observation without talking to me.
I am appalled when I find out in
The Spring when I discover she is
Carrying my child and we marry.
The next weekend in April we go to
Galveston to re-acquire the seven
Year old whom we “borrow” and
Drive back to San Antonio and a
Month later to Austin to an old
Dilapidated apartment in married
Student housing where we live for
The next ten years as I earn a PhD
To any instruction the seven-year-
Old responds, “I know!” but time,
Around as he realizes our need,
I go to one knee explaining to my two sons
That we all want mom not
To cry so we can only survive as a
Family to make mom happy and I
Cannot do this without their help.
I later have this talk with all three
Of my sons, adopted and natural.
I later tell my college students when
Confronted by a student with an
“I know!” attitude that I am an
Ignorant man knowing almost
Nothing about almost everything
With only a ten, twenty, forty years
Of teaching Ph.D knowledge of history and geography which
Would mean that they were ...
And then I would sit on my desk
And tell them I need their help to
Make the class work to our benefit.
I look back to 1967 getting married
Facing paying off $13,000 in debt
To the Galveston Child Psychiatric Clinic,
An unborn child and the
End of my sophomore year I must
Have had some of that "I know!”
Attitude and all that saved me was
Trying not to let down my spouse
Who had buckled under the weight
And who was willing to share the
Burden with me when she had no
Idea how I would turn out as a man.
We both took a leap of faith and
Trust which is what love is.
Our three sons were good boys and
Fine men and our marriage lasted
For 52 years of happy times. Mostly.