The Family Tradition

Jeremiah turned twenty-one on a sunny summer day in northern Vermont. He was very excited about this, not only because he was of legal drinking age, but because all his life he had heard about the family tradition. Supposedly, both his father and his grandfather walked on water on their twenty-first birthdays, and now he was convinced it was his turn as well.1

That afternoon he met one of his friends at the local swimming hole and they took a rowboat out into the middle of the lake. Jeremiah stood up, took a deep breath, and stepped out onto the water. 2

Splash! Into the water he sank, fully clothed, and his friend frantically tried to help him back into the boat. Finally, Jeremiah was once more in the boat.3

"I knew you wouldn't be able to walk on water," teased his friend. Jeremiah stood again, determined that this time he would walk on water, like his father and grandfather before him. Again, Jeremiah stepped out of the boat, and again, he sank into the water. On it went, over and over, the entire afternoon. Finally, Jeremiah gave up and went home. 4

He stormed into the house angrily and confronted his mother. "You've lied to me my entire life!" he accused. "Dad didn't walk on water on his twenty-first birthday, and neither did grandpa!"5

Jeremiah's mother tried to level a serious look at her son, but the amusement in her eyes was plain to see. "Sweetie," she said. "It is true, both your dad and your grandpa both walked on water on their twenty-first birthdays, but you have to remember. We're in northern Vermont, and they were both born in January."