FRONT-PORCH GOSPEL: Open letter to Connor-Man – sixteen years ago

Welcome to the “front porch.”

What you are about to read is one of the first pieces we wrote after we became “Popman,” although we weren’t Popman until a year or so later.

Now the little fella to whom we wrote has turned sweet sixteen and is an amazing young man – creative, analytical, funny, and on and on. I guess I could say he’s one of the best friends I have, the witty young man with whom we read novels and play chess, and – as of late – share invaluable tips on how to be gracious to a young lady. You understand.

Today we’re taking a stroll back to 2005 and to the first column and letter I ever wrote our young man. Here it is:

Dear Connor-Man:

Little fella, you’re two months old, and – on the very day of your second month anniversary – something strange happened to you:

You met Pop, or whatever it is you’re going to end up fondly referring to the old fella.

Now, I don’t mean that this is the first time we’ve met, because I was there with you almost the moment you came barreling into this ol’ world. I was the one with the gruff voice singing “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog” to you even before you were an hour old.

But what happened this past Saturday was that you actually got a good look at ol’ Pop here, pretty much for the first time. I’ve already traveled thousands of miles to see you, but in each of the previous trips you were too busy dealing with being too drippy or too whatever-else to notice.

When a little boy’s only a month old, he’s not interested in much more than just to sleep a little and eat a little and cry a little, plus a few of those other little things.

But when a little fella hits two months, things change. He starts to look around more and to try to figure things out. Even though you weren’t in the best of moods this past weekend because the mean ol’ doctor had poked you in the leg three times on Friday, we had our very special moment this past Saturday.

It’s one I’ll never forget.

For about half an hour you emerged from your sleepy-headedness and slightly fussy behavior (which – I must say – reminds me of a good many of the teenage students in my class) and got as alert as I’ve ever seen you. I walked around holding you out in front of me and talked to you and sang to you, and you just looked at me the whole time, thinking, “Who’s the old fella here?”

I know what you were thinking, because I’ve known you your whole life. Plus, we just have that little connection, you and I. (Here in 2021 I had no idea how great that connection would be.)

And as you watched and listened, you thought: “I don’t know this funny fella here, but I wonder if he’s a regular or just one of those passer-throughs.”

I’m here to tell you, Mr. Connor-Man, your ‘ol Pop here is a regular: a full-fledged, every-day-of-the-week, call-you-on-the-phone-seven-times-a-day, up-town, down-town, no-doubt-about-it, regular. You’ll be able to count on ol’ Pop just as you’ll count on Cheerios in the mornin’ and big, long hot-dawgs with chilly and cheese at the Astros games.

So, young man, it was quite a time we had together as we had our first real talk. I told you about some of the things we’d be doing together down the road and about some things you’d need to keep an eye out for, such as smiling, sweet-talking doctors who tote big needles and aren’t afraid to use them.

I would have warned you about girls, but I figured that could wait another summer or two. We’ll need lots of time for that. But, you’ll be glad to know that I am in charge of helping some old fellas such as Benny Williamson or Coca-Cola Mike keep their wives semi-happy. As an expert in this area, I’ll be able to tell you things nobody else knows or could ever tell you. You’ll have to ignore the doubters who sometime question my expertise in this area. I’ll straighten all that out as we’re sitting up in the cheap seats – just the two of us – eating a hot-dawg and watching the ‘Stros put a whipping on the Braves or Cardinals or somebody like that.

We won’t be able to pick up on our talk about the ways of life for a couple more weeks now, but you just keep eating and sleeping and throwing on some more pounds. In the meantime, I’ll be putting plenty of good material together for our next highly-anticipated little one-on-one session.

‘Til then, you have all the love from the one you call...

– Pop (April 15, 2005)

Coach Steven Bowen, a long-time Red Oak teacher and coach, now enjoys his time as a full-time writer and preacher of the gospel. In addition to his evangelistic travels, he works and writes for the Church of Christ of Red Oak at Uhl Road and Ovilla. Their worship times are 10 a.m. Sundays and 7:30 pm. Wednesdays. Email coachbowen1984@gmail.com or call or text 972-824-5197.