Out of nowhere the butterfly flitted across the path, lingered on a flower, darted up into the sky, then came back down to us. Iridescent wings catching the sunshine, dazzling with color. Ally followed it and we followed Ally.<\/p>\n
We were in the Botanical Gardens in Quito, Ecuador, 9,350 feet above sea level, the snow-dusted Andes encircling us. Clouds hung over the mountains and a brilliant rainbow pierced the canopy.<\/p>\n
I should have been happy, here on vacation with my wife, Carol. We had flown in to visit our oldest son, Sam, and his friend Ally, but an uneasiness hovered over me.<\/p>\n
Why was Sam here? Why couldn\u2019t he get on with his life and go to medical school as we had planned? Why this aimless choice by a kid who normally kept his nose to the grindstone? I had always trusted him. Now I wasn\u2019t so sure.<\/p>\n
On our flight from Virginia I shared my feelings with Carol. \u201cWhy does Sam need to backpack through the Andes for months, \u2018finding himself,\u2019 when he never seemed lost in the first place?\u201d He\u2019d aced his pre-med curriculum and graduated near the top of his class. He was a shoo-in for med school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink about what you were like at his age,\u201d Carol had said.<\/p>\n
Well, yes, but Sam wasn\u2019t me. My buddies and I at the University of Virginia partied hard, but kids did in those days, didn\u2019t they? The class of \u201966 had Vietnam hanging over our heads. We had to let off steam. Some nights we tore a hole in the morning and crawled right through.<\/p>\n
The wildest of us, our crazy leader, was Chuck. He was studying to be a doctor, but you wouldn\u2019t know it watching him drive his Harley along the campus sidewalks, laughing and shouting as if he hadn\u2019t a care in the world. That was Chuck.<\/p>\n
\u201cTimes were different,\u201d I said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what I wanted to do.\u201d I went straight into the military after school. Served for four years, went to grad school, got busy with marriage, kids, work.<\/p>\n
As for Chuck, I thought of him as a cautionary tale\u2013he\u2019d dropped off the face of the earth. Sam seemed headed for great things. I didn\u2019t want him to get lost, to blow his chances like Chuck and others had.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been praying for the right words to say to him,\u201d I told Carol.<\/p>\n
Sam met us at the airport with Ally. She was a free spirit, the one who had encouraged his newfound wanderlust. I had suspected that she was a bad influence, but I liked her right away\u2013polite and self-possessed.<\/p>\n
And Sam, he\u2019d changed, grown. I could tell immediately. He was more sure of himself, confident but not rebellious. His Spanish was good enough to get us through the throng of taxi drivers and safely to our hotel.<\/p>\n
The next morning we visited the local market, toured the old colonial quarter, straddled the equator, ate excellent ceviche. No chance for a heart-to-heart with my son.<\/p>\n
Today, at the Botanical Gardens, I hoped there\u2019d be a moment when I could talk some sense into him. He\u2019d had his fun. Now it was time to get serious.<\/p>\n
We wandered along the garden paths, admiring a tree here, a cactus there. Sam took a picture of the rainbow. \u201cLook!\u201d Ally gasped. I saw that vibration of color, the butterfly, almost as if it had been spun off by the rainbow. Ally dashed after it.<\/p>\n
We followed her zigzag path. It seemed as aimless as this trip of Sam\u2019s. Chasing after butterflies. Chasing after vague notions of the future. I lagged several paces behind, feeling light-headed in the thin atmosphere.<\/p>\n
The butterfly led us to a bridge over a koi pond, then vanished into the sky. Catching my breath, I barely noticed the man sitting at a table there, book in hand. But he and Carol began to talk.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you from?\u201d I heard him ask in English. \u201cCharlottesville, Virginia,\u201d Carol answered. He put down his book. \u201cI went to school at the University of Virginia,\u201d he said. \u201cClass of sixty-six.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him. In an instant the years dropped away. The same crooked grin, the piercing eyes\u2026. I could picture him raising Cain on his old Harley. \u201cChuck?\u201d I exclaimed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWoody?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
We hugged, pounding each other on the back. \u201cSam, this is my old buddy Chuck, from college,\u201d I said. I fought off my sense of disbelief. Chuck? Here? In Quito, of all places?<\/p>\n
The five of us sat down. There was so much catching up to do. We laughed at the things we had done back in the day, shook our heads as if we still couldn\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know,\u201d Chuck said, \u201cI wasn\u2019t as carefree back then as I wanted everyone to think. I was a pretty unhappy kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of that conversation I wanted to have with Sam. \u201cDid you end up going to med school?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNope,\u201d Chuck said. \u201cI finally realized it wasn\u2019t really what I wanted to do. It was my father\u2019s plan. So I traveled and tried to find out what I did want. Met a beautiful woman and we settled here. Life has been good to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stayed silent. \u201cI was planning on going to med school too,\u201d Sam said, \u201cbut I don\u2019t think I\u2019d be happy being a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not happy? What did being happy have to do with it? Chuck looked at him. \u201cOnly you can decide what\u2019s right for you, the path that is most likely to make you happy. I\u2019m glad I finally found mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
All at once I knew. I too had found my path. I was happy with the way my life had turned out and suddenly very proud of my adventurous son. I knew what I needed to say to Sam, not right now, but soon enough: \u201cI love you. I only want you to be happy. Whatever you choose to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three years have flown by since the day a butterfly led me to that reunion in the least likely of places. Chuck and I still keep in touch, telling old stories and new ones.<\/p>\n
Sam returned to the States and found another career\u2013developing software. He\u2019s doing very well. He\u2019s happy, even if I don\u2019t understand a thing about computers or what he does. I trust him.<\/p>\n
I trust something else too, now more than ever. No matter where our paths in life take us, our steps are guided, even by a butterfly that seems to emerge from a rainbow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Out of nowhere the butterfly flitted across the path, lingered on a flower, darted up into the sky, then came back down to us. Iridescent wings catching the sunshine, dazzling with color. Ally followed it and we followed Ally. We were in the Botanical Gardens in Quito, Ecuador, 9,350 feet above sea level, the snow-dusted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[368],"tags":[76,151],"ppma_author":[1362],"class_list":["post-19987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-children","tag-father","tag-mysterious-ways"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n