The Photo I Can't Share

One of the pleasures of reaching a certain age is you are privileged to witness an entire evolution cycle as babies turn into young adults. Last week we celebrated a banner day for my granddaughter Kelsey as she got her official driver’s license. It’s been a long time coming and now the freedom of the open road is hers.

It seems like yesterday I was pushing her in a plastic car up and down our driveway. What I didn’t realize was she was dragging her feet on the pavement and wearing out the bottoms of her baby shoes. I had to make a quick trip to the shoe store to get her new ones before her mother came home. A part of me hopes she drags her foot on the accelerator and drives defensively and safely. But I realize I can’t protect her from the crazies I encounter daily on the highways of Tennessee. There is a trust factor necessary to let a swan spread her wings.

There is a great picture of Kelsey with her driver’s license taken by her mother and I had originally intended to include with this post as it would decorate these pages nicely. Kelsey is a beautiful girl, as tall as I am now with a frame suited for modeling. She’s starting to notice boys belatedly, which is a nagging concern to fathers and grandfathers who themselves were once hormone driven teenagers.

I posted the picture to my Facebook page proudly so my friends and family could see. I got a lot of likes and comments as it was a great picture. I’m only sorry I can’t post it here.

A-Country-For-Old-Men.com exists in the Wild Wild West of the World Wide Web, a community populated by not just friends and family like Facebook. I read a story last week of a young lady in Murfreesboro, only a few years older than my granddaughter, who had her image stolen from her Facebook profile page. The thief used the picture on a website advertising prostitution. I was floored at this story and this made me rethink about how much we put on the internet. What happens in Vegas may not stay in Vegas if any of it gets on the Net. The web is forever for everyone to see.

My granddaughter is the “Selfie Queen”, taking endless shy shots of herself, the modern day equivalent to a teen girl staring into the mirror for evaluation in my day. I have a great niece who is also beautiful and keeps me apprised of just about every move she and her friends make via selfies on Facebook. The disquieting story of the girl in Murfreesboro makes me reflexively want to reach out and protect these young women as guys old enough to remember Chivalry are supposed to do.

I just don’t know how to protect them from technology.

So, I’m just doing my little part by opting out of sharing Kelsey’s photo even though the picture of her with the new license to freedom is precious. I made a conscious decision to not include the picture with the story of Kelsey’s triumph. You will have to settle for asking me to show you the picture on my phone since nobody carries wallet photos anymore.

I'll share with you if I trust you.