The man just got word that his newly minted
fifty-year-old son, an all-American athlete
in college and a long distance trail runner

was shocked to learn that he takes after
his mother, the man’s late wife who died
at forty-nine and took after her father

(the son’s grandfather) whose family all
suffered from heart disease. The son learned
that he has a partially blocked artery lead-

ing to the heart. When the man heard the
news it hit him like a fist in the solar
plexus but he kept his cool until he got

off the phone. He knew (or so he hoped)
that his super athlete (swimmer, runner,
triathlete) son would be all right with

the proper medical treatment but, still,
after the man told his wife, he sat scared
to death and cried like he hadn’t —

since his late wife died.