“If there’s a little
boy in your life, I hope you’ve read Robert Ruark’s The Old Man and The Boy.
If you haven’t, you should snare a copy soon. My ambition is to be the ‘Old
Man’ in Wyatt’s world.”
As a
brand-new grandfather, I wrote those words on Father’s Day 2004. Since that
time, six other grandsons and a granddaughter have climbed onto my knees. And
all eight love tromping in the outdoors just as much as their grandpa and their fathers.
Ruark, “The Old Man,” used the woods
and waters of North Carolina’s coast for a classroom to educate his grandson,
“The Boy.” The curriculum was more than
just hunting and fishing. Equally important were lessons on how to become a
gentleman. As Ruark wrote, “A gentleman
starts down at his boots and works up to his hat.”
Wyatt Wilson turned 16 on Dec. 10,
2019. So far, he has aced all the exams on outdoor sportsmanship. From his
boots (and Nike running shoes) to his hat (and camouflage cap), he displays the
traits of a true Southern gentleman. When Wyatt gives you a firm handshake, he looks
you in the eye. He says, “Yes, sir”; “no, ma’am”; and “thank you” in distinct, courteous
tones. He is a thoughtful conversationalist. I couldn’t be more proud.
And since Wyatt has grown up cheering
for the Georgia Bulldogs, his grandpa suggested we take our barks to the Sugar
Bowl and celebrate his milestone birthday. “The Old Man” and “The Boy” traded
blackwater swamps and cypress knees for exploring the concrete-and-steel
wilderness of New Orleans.
Over four days, we packed our
itinerary. We packed in food, too. The menus ranged from alligator-sausage
omelets to gumbo to fried-shrimp po-boys to iconic beignets to bananas Foster
in the French Quarter’s Brennan’s. Not to forget Wyatt’s favorite: Waffle
House, going and coming.
On our return—somewhere in the middle
of Mississippi—Wyatt narrated his “highlights film.” The game and victory over
Baylor in the Superdome was tops. Despite the depleted roster, Coach Kirby
Smart had the Dawgs ready to play. Before the game, Wyatt—the athlete—assured me,
“Grandpa, don’t worry. This is a time for the young players to step
up.” And they did just that, 26-14.
We could have spent all four days at
the World War II Museum. Wyatt’s main focus was on the South Pacific exhibit. Both
of his great-grandfathers served in the Army in the Philippines. Every
16-year-old in America should—at a minimum—sit in the 4-D theater and watch the
introductory movie that shows the sacrifices made for our freedoms.
On New Year’s Eve, Wyatt and I got an
education on enslaved African Americans’ journey to freedom. My friend, Dr.
Percy Pierre, the nation’s first African American to earn a Ph.D. in electrical
engineering, grew up in New Orleans. His storybook life is for telling another
day.
All eight of Percy’s
great-grandparents were slaves. We visited his rural roots in the communities
of Freetown, Jamestown and Donaldson, along the Mississippi River levee. He
pointed to the patch of weeds where his family’s house—his birthplace—once
stood.
Percy can trace his ancestry to his
great-great-great-grandmother Theresse’s capture from the Macou Tribe of East
Africa’s Mozambique. And as we walked the historic grounds of Whitney
Plantation, you could all but hear the chains rattling and the whips cracking. The
Whitney should be a must-see experience for America’s 16-year-olds, too.
Before our road trip was over, I’m
sure “The Boy” thought “The Old Man” was trying to pour a gallon of experiences
into his teenage quart jar. Nonetheless, I had
to exit I-65 in Montgomery and wend our way to a hilltop in Oakwood Cemetery
Annex. On the blustery second day of 2020, “The Boy” leaned on the towering tombstone
of country-music legend Hank Williams, while “Praise the Lord, I saw the light”
blared from his iPhone.
Robert Ruark never wrote about taking
his grandson to the concrete-and-steel wilderness of lower Louisiana. But
“Praise the Lord,” Wyatt and I will be talking about our Sugar Bowl adventures
for a long, long time.
Let’s hope those talks are by a
campfire or while pitching crickets in a cypress swamp. That’d make this “Old Man” smile.
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
