I remember one time, my dad sat me down when I was 9 years old and he was going out of town on a business trip.  He looked at me, with a serious face, and said, “Andy, this weekend, you are the man of the house.  This weekend, this house is your responsibility.”

You cannot imagine how thrilled I was.  I immediately, (after hugging him goodbye) ran and told my sisters and brother.  “I am the MAN of the house, you will listen to me.”  Oooh, that was my very first experience on a power trip, and like every other one, I really didn’t have any power at all.  I had responsibility.  When I was 9, I thought that I got to be the boss.  (I think I even tried to tell my mom what to do and what to make for dinner…. You DON’T do that)

I had no idea the responsibility my dad had just laid on me.  When I hear man of the house now, I think, I will take a bullet for anyone in this house.  I will put myself in harms way if it will save my family.  Sometimes I wonder if my dad thought the same thing then.  I wonder if he was secretly sitting me down and saying, ” Son, listen up.  This world is crazy, and you never know what is going to happen.  But, this weekend I am going to be out of town, so no matter what happens it is your responsibility to protect my family.  It is your responsibility to keep them calm if the power goes out, or if a tornado hits.  You have to think quickly, about what is best, not just for you, but for them.  Son, I am trusting my life to you.”

Do I really think that is what he meant?  I don’t know.  Kind of.  That’s a big step for anyone.  Ask any guy about the first time his dad told him he was the man of the house.  I bet most guys have that memory.  It is one of my best memories.  One of my best memories is when my pops trusted me enough to put his entire family in my hands, and tell me he trusted me.

Did anything happen that weekend?  No. Praise God.  But that step in my life, even if just for a minute, was awesome. Even if three years later, I completely betrayed that trust, For that weekend, I was trusted.  I was loved.  I was becoming a man.  To this day, I think back on things like that my dad did, and it all makes sense.  We weren’t just playing house.  He wasn’t just teasing me.  He was preparing me.  I refused to see it, and sometimes even refused to listen or learn.  But I’m looking back now, and seeing it.

Today, I am the man of the house.  It’s something sometimes I lose sleep over.  Because this world is crazy, and you never know what is going to happen, and now it is my responsibility.  Full Time.

intense.  I don’t know if this is making any sense or what.  It was on my mind so I thought I’d write it out.

To you, what makes a man?  Do you remember your first ‘man of the house’ experience?  Please do share!

I was tagged.  Not once, not two times but three times.  My wife, Jonathon, and Jamie from work all tagged me to do this thing.. So I am going to.  I might even publish it back on facebook too.  Who knows.

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1)  My real name is Donald Andrew McMahon, but didn’t know that until my second year of high school. Until then I thought my real name was Andrew James Dennis.

2)  I have ten tattoos.  I am getting more.

3)  In middle school I learned how to yo-yo and juggle.  I’m talking crazy tricks and all.  I still do from time to time.

4)  I work as a network administrator for a small company in Stone Mountain Georgia.  It’s an alright gig.

5)  I have never met my real dad, (or ‘bio-dad’)  But wouldn’t mind doing so one day.  Any private eyes out there?

6)  I am more concerned about my weight than I let on.

7)  I had a crazy life growing up.  Read my blog, that’s a little less than half of my stories.

8)  I am in love (and married) to the most wonderful woman.  My wildest dreams couldn’t have thought this life up.

9)  I cry.  A lot.  Most shows that come on T.V.  I cry.

10)  I have an extremely short temper, but I have (for the most part) overcome that, by the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

11)  Starting at sixteen, I lived mostly on couches, sometimes on floors for quite some time.

12)  I think my voice is way better than it really is.

13)  My two favorite movies (not comedies) are Pulp Fiction and Fight Club.

14)  No matter what my relationship with my mother was like, I still miss the crap out of her, and dream about her once a week at least.

15)  My whole life I wanted to be a fireman but can’t because of my driving record.

16)  I honestly never thought it would be this hard to write 25 things about myself.

17)  I am not a “Georgia Native” but have lived here since I was like… 2 or something.

18)  When I was 5, I tried to make my aunt (whom lived with us) a breakfast in bed, instead, I caught her wedding dress on fire.

19)  My friend Omar, his twin sister and I are the only kids from my neighborhood click who are still alive. (next to my little brother and sister)

20)  I have been in three car accidents  (I have also never wrecked my own car)

21)  I LOVE Tabasco sauce.  I will eat it on almost anything.

22)  Three years ago, I had serious doubt as to whether or not 1983 was my real birth year.  It was.

23)  I’m a recovering Alcoholic/Drug addict.

24) Did I mention I am married to the most beautiful wonderful woman on the face of the earth.

25)  I listen to Tupac way more than the average white boy probably should.  I always have. It’s an obsession.

There you go.  25 things.  I think I’ve done this before.  Somewhere.   So.. Enjoy.  If you want to do this, do it.  On your facebook, blog, or myspace.  Whatever.  Have fun, and post a link when you do this to where we can find it!   It’ll be fun.

Later!

I know some of you have to watch 24.  I’m not going to spoil anything so don’t worry about that.  I do have a question though.  Why on earth can’t these guys get some cars that are a little more incognito?  Seriously, these guys are running some seriously covert missions, and they are driving around in a bright blue van or a bright yellow paddy-wagon looking truck. It doesn’t make sense to me.  Hopefully there will be a reason for that written in to the plot soon.  Hopefully.

On another note, Andrea and I had a great night out in Atlanta.  We came across some really cheap tickets to go see Stomp 2.0 at the Fox Theatre.  I don’t know what it is about that place but when I go there, I feel all special.  Anyway, Andrea and I made a trip of it.  We decided we would go eat at the Varsity and then head to the Fox.  It was great fun.  We actually ended up eating at the Varsity, going to Starbucks, and then going to the Fox.  She (re) taught me about different kind of sentences, and I told her a little about work.  Sometimes we just sat there in silence, what she doesn’t know, when we are sitting there in silence, I’m staring at her, in utter amazement.

No matter how many days I wake up with her, I will never fully be able to believe that she is my wife.  It’s too good to be true.  You know?  Man. I am just too lucky.

When we got to the Fox our seats were really awesome. 26 rows back and in the center.  The people in front of us were a little taller, or just had really big hair, and moved alot, so there wasn’t really avoiding them getting in the way a little bit.  We still enjoyed it all and all, just a little frustrating at times… but that’s life.

So.. There is our night.  Somehow, my life has turned into something pretty cool, even through all of the funk that has been my life.  It looks like things are starting to come together.  It’s nice.

I think we can all be better at loving our enemies.

I think we can all improve at loving our neighbors.

I think we all could get better at loving each other.

I think we all need help loving ourselves.

How amazing is a Love that is perfect.  So perfect in fact that he doesn’t need to improve.  A Love that still Loves us, even though we need all the improvement in the world.

Wow.

I can remember one time that I really experienced community.  I was working at the bar at the time, and was pretty far into the mix of my addiction days.  A good friend of mine, Paulie Arleo, took his life.  I don’ think to this day any of us really know why, but we do all have our opinions.  Paulie left behind his wife, and two dogs.  It was devastating to everyone.  He was one of the most liked people in the world.

When he passed away, there was definitely a sense of community.  People from all over Gwinnett County gathered at Kay’s house to remember Paulie.  A group of guys helped choose out new carpet for her room, to replace the empty spot that once held the blood from Paulie’s head.  Another group of guys patched the whole in the ceiling, where the bullet went, afterwards.  We stuck around.  I stayed at that house for several weeks after the fact.  Only leaving to go to work.

There was one night, a good friend of mine tried to ride his motorcycle drunk.  I picked him up over my shoulder, and wouldn’t let him.  While I carried him inside, another friend  removed the spark plugs so he couldn’t.  Eventually, he ended up passing out until our road trip the next day to Brison, to bury Paulie.

Thinking back on this, I get a little sad.  But I also see the way we all pulled together.  The way that a group of people came together to lift up the ones who were down.

Last night, I was thinking about this.  I was thinking about two things actually. first, I was thinking about how much I missed Paulie.  Second, I was thinking about how it’s easy to form community when things are bad.  When there is someone else around to focus on their life, it’s easy to pull together and talk about it.  Wouldn’t it be great if we could all pull together like that all of the time.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if 9 people showed up at my house, with just as much willingness to help.  Saying, “Man, we heard you were really struggling with _______.”  Fill in the blank.

Our pain and struggles are all hard.  They are all horrible things to try to overcome alone, but sometimes it takes a death, a cancer diagnosis, an addiction, or a nervous breakdown for us to show up.  The more I think about that the weirder it seems to me.  I don’t know what to think about that.  Maybe instead of thinking about it, we could call for a ‘change’.   Maybe there is something inside each and everyone of us that is looking to help out in that way.  Maybe there is a looming visit we’ve all been meaning to make.  Maybe, just maybe we all are eager to love our neighbors.

I don’t know if what I am saying makes sense, but it comes down to this question.  Why do we always seem to wait until disaster strikes to really reach out or offer community. (I mean, community outside of the once a week 10:30-1:00 time frame we alot for our brothers and sisters.) Why do we come around more when the focus can be taken completely off of us?  Can this change?  How?