"MAN UP"

An inspirational story courtesy FC2 Jason Harris (USS Enterprise sailor and good friend).

Many of you may be wondering about the 3 yr old with the mustache and rightfully so; the moral of the following story is parental genius and perspective demonstrated by a 3yr old named Noah Harris:

Over the years I have shared many stories with my buddies on the ship. Most tales surrounded my childhood years and time spent at the camp in Coushatta with dad, Stanely and the Johnson Family. These were formative years for me that continue to have an impact on my decision making process and crisis management skills. Many were amazed at the accounts of "Feats of Strength", "the Wings of Mercy & the Torch of Death", "Tests of Manhood", "the beloved game of HIT the TREE!" and the infamous "Monkey Monster & the Devil Dog". Needless to say, much of the experience gained at that camp has manifested itself it some very unique ways that always seem surprising to "outsiders". Some cringed and used words like torture while we laughed and used words like fun and unforgettable. But for those of us at the Churchofwhatshappeninnow it was only the first Gospel; the Genisis of T.L. Butler Sr parenting 101 and a legacy that I believe in whole-heartedly and will carry on until the day I die.

Never before had I met an "outsider" who developed their very own version of the exact same parenting techniques; that is, until I met Jason Harris and his little boy Noah.

I went to Jason's house after work for a little help with some maintenance on my motorcycle. One thing led to another, maintenance was complete, and we ended up on the couch sipping cold beer and playing with the kids. Noah was horseplaying with his brother and ended up with a little hurt and a lotta tears. The next thing I know, Noah is fighting through the tears and asking his daddy for the moustache because he needed to -MAN UP-. I was completely confused and just sat back and watched it all unfold. Apparently, Jason had laid the ground work to let Noah know that Men don't cry. Men are strong. Men do whatever it takes and since Noah was only 3 yrs old and not quite old enough to be considered a Man; Jason made him a moustache that he keeps taped to the fridge so Noah can use whenever he needs to Man Up. This little boy grabbed that 'stache, put it on his lip, took a deep breath, stopped crying and Manned UP! As soon as he was good, he took it off and put it back on the fridge. I was amazed. It was great.

Fast forward 4 months and I'm standing outside the VA DeBakey Medical Center in Houston Texas with my dad 12 hours before surgery. To say there were a few butterflies in the stomache would be an understatement. Just about that time, I recieved a text message from my friend Noah with the aforementioned photo and instructions to tell my dad to Man UP and it would be OK. So I passed along the info, showed pop the picture, grabbed the first ink pen I could find and drew the devil dog in the palm of mine and dad's hands, joked about HalliLamaMaTuah to ward off the evil spirits and off to surgery prep he went. I think he scared the nurses.

Perspective for a 60yr old Vietnam Vet is a bit different than one of the coolest 3yr olds in the world BUT they are fundamentally the same. Dad's already got a moustache but seeing Brad Pitt and the Bear Jew take a Louisville Slugger to a Nazi, or getting a little front seat time in a Corvette, or getting a kiss on the cheek from a good-looking nurse is just the kind of positive reinforcement he needs to Man Up. He does it every day and he does it with a style and manner that is all his own.