"All he knows is he sorta looks like Dad so he's down with anything."

Cherish these times.

When my oldest son was 8, we were walking from the car to the door at WalMart. I reached down to hold his hand just because I wanted to. I asked if it was okay with him, and he said, "Sure, why wouldn't it be?" I told him that, believe it or not, one day, he'd be too old to want to hold my hand. His sincere, childlike reply made me cry right there next to the cart corral: "Dad, I'll never be too old to hold your hand."

Fast-forward: he'll be 17 in three weeks and will one day be a Norwegian death metal drumming god. It is a rare event when he allows himself to be seen in public with his old man.

Like I said,...