That’s a picture of my dad, Robert Stutts, in 1950. He enlisted in the Navy after graduating from high school and served aboard an aircraft carrier for four years. After the Navy, he went to college and became a teacher before transitioning to administration for the last twenty-five years of his career.
He was a great dad, especially considering what he’d come from. I never really knew my grandfather. He died when I was very young. My dad described him as “mean.” I was very blessed to have a dad who was anything but mean. He was kind, encouraging, loving and generous. He loved people and loved helping others.
On March 23, 2005, he died of leukemia.
Less than two weeks from now, on the tenth anniversary of my dad’s death, my son, Rob (named after my dad), will leave home and begin his Navy career. After basic training, he will train to become a SEAL.
What I realized a few years ago was that in our American culture, we see our children almost everyday of their lives from birth through graduation from high school. After that, we may see them a few weeks a year. It’s different if they choose to stay in their hometown, but I didn’t do that and neither did my wife, Robyn.
So I have just a short time left to walk into the living room and see Rob sitting there reading a book or looking in the refrigerator and saying, “We don’t have any food.” I only have a couple more opportunities to go out to breakfast with him.
I will miss working out with him, although it’s been a couple years since I’ve really been able to do that. I think the last time we worked out together was about a year ago. We were doing quarter mile sprints. On the first one, I started laughing when he got out to a ten yard lead before I even got moving.
I never really learned how to hunt, so I was not able to pass that on to Rob. That’s something I deeply regret. We did go squirrel hunting together a couple times though. What will always stand out to me is not seeing any squirrels. What I loved most though, was just being with him.
For the last six football seasons, we’ve lived just two blocks from Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Rob and I have gone to about thirty games together. The picture below is from the Ole Miss game last November. It rained most of the game, but I sure had fun being with him.
My dad and my son have greatly blessed my life. I’m grateful for the men they are and the time I had with them. I hope my son gets to experience having a son as awesome as he has been. And I hope I eventually get to see him more than a couple weeks a year.
