Afterword

No one ever assigned me to write a 500 word essay or “whatever” number of words. I have no idea how long 500 words is. In college our professors would only say that the paper had to be long enough to cover the topic. In those days I would type on a manual Royal typewriter. Now I’m typing in Microsoft Word and it can tell me how long this essay is: it’s 7,537 words right now. Here are a few more words.

I hope you liked it. It’s not for anyone outside of our family: they wouldn’t get it. Yeah, there’s a well-turned phrase here or there, and I suppose a couple of paragraphs might be publishable for a non-Selby. For the most part, however, this is just for us. I hope it sparked a few ideas for you. It has sparked so many for me that I can’t wait to get started on the next project. I have been wondering what boys do who don’t have older brothers. How do they learn the proper method of dunking cinnamon crisps in milk without having them break? What are families like who don’t eat meals together? Did anyone else raise a rooster in the suburbs?

The whole point of this essay, for essay it is, was for me to make an attempt. It was also to undergo some self-examination to see what influences were in my life so that I could capitalize on them during the next attempt. God, love, family, scholarship, friends, and familial aphorisms seem to be the big winners. At emotional times like this, times of quiet introspection and sentimentality, I always remember the words Mama would say to me: “FOR LORD’S SAKE, HANK! WHY DON’T YOU USE THE BRAIN GOD GAVE YOU?!?

-HGS