A Soul Almost Gone to Waste

 

                Athanasi was their only child and John and Susan watched the young boy continue to grow, become involved in multiple sports, take on a love of music, both listening to and performing, making many friends as he continued through elementary school, middle school, and high school. After his first year of high school, his parents began to notice a change in his attitude, his interaction with people, and his overall level of kindness when dealing with people far below his level of excellence.

               His grades began to slip, his quality of language began taking on a great deal of profanity, prompting his father to begin asking questions about his wide variety of friends, their interests, and how he was spending his free time. Posters began to appear on his walls of his favorite heavy metal bands, his favorite female actresses in degrading and immodest clothing, prompting his mother to begin raising questions about his life choices.

               On a particular Thursday afternoon, John came home early to learn that Athanasi had not yet returned home from school, as he and Susan sat at the kitchen counter discussing their concerns about Athanasi, they watched as a very loud muscle car pulled into their driveway from which Athanasi emerged in a cloud of smoke.

               “Wow, that is not good,” John said. “We need to put in more effort to help him get back on track, it is like his heart, soul, and mind are slowly shriveling before our eyes.” Athanasi staggered across the lawn, entered the front door, looked at his parents through bloodshot eyes, smiled and excused himself to his room. “I have some homework I need to get done before tomorrow morning,” he said.

               Two more hours passed when Susan began to prepare dinner, John moved himself to the family room to turn on the evening news and could hear the shower start from down the hall. At six o’clock, like always, Susan made the announcement that dinner was ready and everyone needed to come to the dinner table. In less than five minutes, both John and Athanasi joined Susan for dinner, both yawning aggressively.

               “Tell me about the friends that dropped you off this afternoon,” John said. “That was a really loud car with a great deal of smoke pouring out of the open door when you climbed out, what was that all about?”

               “Oh, yeah, that is Daryl’s car,” Athanasi said, “he spends a lot of his time working on his car, making it faster and more powerful whenever he has the opportunity. And the smoke, the two guys in the back seat, Arty and Boris were passing a bong back and forth, now that cannabis is legal, they can’t seem to get enough of it. I do my best to hold my breath whenever they are actively imbibing. When we drive like that, I keep the window open to avoid it’s influence on my mind.”

               “Your mother and I are becoming very concerned about your current life choices and the people with whom you are spending your time,” John said. “I cannot emphasize strongly enough the danger of associating with boys like that; we’re concerned that they will drag you down the wrong path. With your brilliant mind, your athletic skills, your musical skills, and you love for people in general, we would hate to see you lose those possible paths toward success.”

               “If it makes you feel any better,” Athanasi said, “I spend very little time with them. I’m still part of the baseball team, the basketball team, and the football team, as well as marching band, and the debate class at school. At most I’ll spend one afternoon a week with Daryl, Arty, and Boris, I do my best to influence them toward beauty and intelligence.”

               “That would be great if you could positively influence them, but we’re concerned about your exposure to cannabis,” John said. “Taking that into your system will certainly influence the way your brain operates and the negative impact of smoke upon your lungs. We would hate to see your health decline and negatively impact your abilities in your sporting endeavors.”

               “Alright, understood,” Athanasi said. “I will cut down the time I spend with Daryl, Arty, and Boris. You are right about their influence and the cannabis.”

               “Thank you for hearing us, Athanasi,” Susan said as she squeezed her son’s hand. “Try to put more time and effort into spending time with young men of good character, you have so much you can offer the world and continue to improve yourself.”

               Athanasi offered up a smile to his mother and returned the hand squeeze, to then sit back, unbutton his pants and release a satisfied long breath. “Thank you for dinner, Mom,” he said, “I can easily say that your cooking is better than anything I have ever eaten. Like I said earlier, I have homework I need to finish before tomorrow.” He then slid his chair back, excused himself from the table, slapped his father on the back as he walked down the hallway toward his bedroom.

               “That went really well,” John said, “I am really looking forward to seeing how he adjusts his approach to life, to sports, to academics, and to his circle of friends.”

               “Yes, I completely agree,” Susan said.

               “Go sit down and relax for a few minutes,” John said. “I’ll clean up the dining room and kitchen after such a wonderful meal. You deserve a break today.”

               “Thank you, dear,” Susan responded. John watched her rise from the table, walk into the family room, lie down on the couch and rest her feet on one end of the couch with a small pillow under her head.

               Athanasi’s second year of high school reached its end and his grades slowly recovered to complete the year with all A’s, achieving new records in baseball and basketball, and his parent’s watched as his time with friends transitioned away from Daryl, Arty, and Boris. Halfway through the last day of school, Susan slipped into Athanasi’s room and was happy to see that he had taken down the posters of the heavy metal bands and the scantily clad female actresses.

               Two more years of high school came and went, leaving both John and Susan thoroughly pleased with Athanasi’s continued trajectory toward excellence, intelligence, and positive influence on his classmates. Athanasi’s senior year came to an end and he was invited to be the valedictorian speaker at his graduation, which he happily accepted, to then create his speech over a two-week period. John and Susan could hear him practicing his delivery every night for the two weeks preceding the graduation.

               Before and after the graduation ceremony, letters began to arrive in the mail from over a dozen different universities across the western United States, all offering full scholarships for his academic excellence and his athletic abilities. The pile of letters continued to grow on the kitchen counter until Athanasi took an hour to read through them all, create a map of their locations, and eventually identify the top three universities that were most appealing to him.

               He chose the best of the three, submitted his paperwork, and after six years passed, he graduated with his Master’s degree in Chemistry to then take a job in his hometown as a research chemist. On the day of his university graduation, he and his girlfriend Abigail sat at his parent’s dining room table to discuss his plans for work, for marriage, and express his gratitude for the hard work they put into guiding him on his path into adulthood.

               “We are very proud of you, son,” John said. “It has been a wonderful time watching you grow and mature, we are so happy that you transitioned away from certain people during high school. You have become a wonderful young man and from what we are seeing you have chosen a wonderful young lady with whom to spend your time and attention.”

               After six months of working as a research chemist, Athanasi paid off his parent’s mortgage, bought himself and his new bride a house relatively close to his parent’s home.

               “Athanasi,” Abigail said, “I hope I have the opportunity to speak with your parents about the changes you made in your life to become the wonderful person you are today. You really need to take a few weeks off of work, so we can enjoy a proper honeymoon. I would love to go to Paris for at least a week, can you do that for us?”

               “Yes, of course,” Athanasi said, “I know we took a couple days right after our wedding, so a two-week honeymoon in France would be glorious time to spend together. Now that we have our own home, we need to start buying furniture and all of the little things that are necessary to make a house a home.”

               “Oh, very good,” Abigail said, “I’ll start creating a list for us, start making some purchases, and watch as our empty house turns into a beautiful home. We can talk through what style we want to have for our home, and which items should be purchased first. This is so exciting and I cannot wait to make this a beautiful place, which will eventually be filled with a few children.”

               “Wow, children,” Athanasi said, “I think we should spend a couple years enjoying our company, taking vacations, and getting everything in order before children start to arrive. I’m thinking two or three children, I was an only child and that wasn’t very fun because I never had the opportunity to learn to share with someone else.”