Jonathan Michael
Jonathan Michael was his name. He was named after both of his grandfathers. One, Jonathan, was a fisherman with a mouth as foul as day-old fish. The other was a lawyer, a refined man with genteel sensibilities. It is no wonder that Jonathan Michael was often at odds with himself.
He did well in school and was awarded a full scholarship to Harvard, his school of choice. Jonathan Michael was going to study law like his grandfather, but he wanted to eventually go into politics. Grandpa Michael was so proud he nearly burst the buttons on his favorite double-breasted blazer.
Grandpa Jonathan thought it was all balderdash and wanted him to be a fisherman like a “real man.” Jonathan had no use for Michael or men of his ilk.
Jonathan Michael nearly made it to graduation before he dropped out of college and went to work on his grandfather’s fishing boat.
Grandpa Michael shook his head and wondered what had happened to him. To say he was disappointed would be a gross understatement. He wondered why anyone would squander his education and give up a lucrative career and the life it would provide to the smell of fish.
Jonathan Michael lasted two years on the fish boat then one day he walked away and never looked back. Everyone expected him to return to the law, but Jonathan Michael had other ideas.
He began a book about a fishing boat and the salty, old man who sailed it. It took him a year to write, but he was determined to finish it. It turned out his time on the boat had served him well. His book went on to critical acclaim.
His next book was a thriller starring an attorney with a weak stomach but a shrewd mind. This novel took less time to write. It was a good thing because his public was clamoring for more.
Jonathan Michael, named for two disparate men, went on to become not either man but his own man. It took him a while, but he found his own way and became his own man. Both of his grandfathers swelled with pride. One straining at the buttons of his blazer. The other at the suspenders holding his pants.