Bob Sanders: Let me tell you about my grandkids

Please indulge a doddering old man as he brags about his grandkids.

I passed by the ice box and said, “Whoa.” Could this be possible?

There, stuck on the doors, were snapshots of little boys riding tricycles and playing soccer, etc. There was a very special one of all three with a little red car. The oldest one was on the hood, the second one was inside the car, making a face and sticking his tongue out at the camera and the third one was holding on to the back end. I remember I had the long lens on the Nikon and had to keep running backwards in order to get it all in the frame, but it worked out perfectly.

Let’s see. Was that last year? Two years ago?

Wake up, dummy. The oldest one is a junior at AU, in the Honors Program, a fraternity man, a Host, a member of the SGA, a quite confident young man (his mother and I often wonder, where did he get that confidence?). He wants to be a lawyer. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see his name in politics some day. He’s been a page or something in Montgomery and absolutely loves the whole political scene. His high school football team on which he played both ways and did the kicking, won every game. He flirted with the idea of walking on as a kicker, but got involved in too many other things.

The middle one, two years younger, was just as good — played both ways, did the kicking, was the leading scorer—but, alas, his team lost every game. He, too, wouldn’t have been embarrassed as a walk-on. He would always climb higher in the tree, jump off a higher diving board, always trying to outdo his brother He’s the reader, the thinker, the doubter. We were just at his graduation. He won all sorts of awards and scholarships, including a fabulous one (I didn’t know they had ones like that) from Auburn, which he turned down to go to North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has, of course, been cut out of my will.

Number three had a lot to overcome, but thanks to modern medical science, he got over some early obstacles and, like the other two, has been playing soccer since diaper days. He’ll be in the ninth grade this fall. And he’s discovered that, hey, making good grades is kind of fun. He’s already taller than his Irishman dad, and I think will be the tallest of the three. At least he got something from the Sanders side.

Bob Mount is emeritus professor of zoology and entomology at Auburn University and writes a weekly column for the Opelika-Auburn News.