Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:02:21 -0600
From: dnrock@rock.com
Subject: Of Man and Boy 21

Of Man and Boy
by:  dnrock(dnrock@rock.com)


21: Summer Adventures Two

Grant wanted to go camping.  Not camping as city people would call it, you
know, going to a formal camping place in the car.  Grant wanted to sleep in
a tent and have a campfire in the "big woods" or wilds of the "bush".  He
wanted to set up his telescope on a hill top and see the Milky Way, the
moon, perhaps the morning star or evening star.  He knew the morning and
evening stars are not stars at all but planets; chase fire flies in the
evening and feel the due on the morning grass, hear the owls hooting.
Maybe they would see a meteor flash across the sky or hear the Northern
Lights sing. [Okay, I get carried away sometimes, fire flies don't live in
that part of Montana but the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) does make
noise, all be it above the hearing range of most adult people.]

He talked PA into the idea of letting him and his new friends pitch a tent
and sleep out for a few nights.  PA dug in his storage space and found a
large out side frame tent and the other needed equipment.  He pitched it on
the edge of the orchard a few meters from a bald knoll, a good place for
the telescope.

The Harlowton area is ±1300 m (4300 ft.) in elevation and 46º 45' north.
Long days and cool nights this time of the year.  The Stum ranch straddles
the prairie with the forest of the Belt Mountains to the north.  The Belt
is rugged but not overly high.  They are geologically very interesting. (No
dear reader I won't go off on that tangent, tempting as it is.).

PA helped the boys, make their camp after they arrived.  Following a hard
day of play, riding and one of Mrs. Slocan's boy friendly meals and lots
more play, he supervised their campfire; accompanied by a number of stories
and tall tails.  It gets cool in the evenings when the sun goes down.
Shorts gave way to jeans and T-shirts to jackets and sweaters.  The boys
looked at a few stars and snuggled into the same double sized sleeping bag.
PA walked back to the house knowing full well little sleep was to be had
this night.  He could hear them giggling and laughing all the way to the
ranch house.

Grant was happy to have other boys more or less his own age around.  It is
always more fun to share with a friend.  Not that adults are no fun.  They
are, at least his are.  Its just different.  Prepubescent boys think
everything is funny especially anything to do with bodily functions and
male/female relationships.  They, the ones with older brothers and cousins
that is, can't for the life of themselves understand why said males would
spend so much time with the girls and in preening themselves just to
impress them.  It just had to be more fun to wrestle or play catch with
them, didn't it?

Grant had some ideas about this but he did not share them.  He knew how
good sex with your man was.  He just figured sex with another boy or girl
would be good too.  That's what the books all said.  That's what his dad
had told him.  Darwin and Wilson were beginning to get a little interested
in girls.  They both knew a little about sex and procreation.  They were
well aware of the anatomical differences between boys and girls.  They were
both becoming curious about them and about themselves.  Grant proved to be
a fount of knowledge about all thing biophysical.  He could quote and
describe passages from the medical books and internet pages he memorized.
It didn't take long for Darwin and Wilson to realize this.  Wilson had an
older sister, whom he complained about all the time.  Darwin had several
older brothers, he was the youngest, as was Wilson.  Darwin knew very well
the kind of physological changes they would all undergo over the next few
years.

Using the light of a flashlight the three boys read the letters and Forum
sections and looked at the pictures in a dog eared old copy of Penthouse.
This titillated them to no end.  Grant wanted them to have the fun and
enjoyment that he had, he wanted them to share in the glory of a boy/man
relationship like he did.  Grant is bright, very bright, he said nothing.

He longed to go swimming.  To swim naked and frolic in the water with his
pod.  That was not to be but he could swim with his new friends.  Perhaps
PA would take them to the swimming hole he talked about, if the morning
brought another hot dry day.

What no one knew yet was Grant had begun puberty a bit earlier than normal
for boys.  The average is 10 to 12 but the range is 9 to 15.  Precocious
Early Puberty which is starting puberty before 9 for boys and before 8 for
girls, has some medical concerns.  By definition Grant was PEP.  These ages
are not fixed and since he was just a few months shy of 9 in fact it was no
big deal.  His only problem was yet to come.  He would probably finish by
16 instead of 18, he would have adult genitals in junior high and public
hair in grade school but on the other hand he did not attend school.  His
two new friends had also just started into puberty.  That is probably why
they accepted a younger boy as a friend although none of them realized it.
The signaling system that told them this is subtle and subconscious.  At
the start of puberty the body begins broadcasting olfactory signals.  These
subtle chemical signals alert others to their physiological status and
other things.

When the rain came on the second day all three boys huddled around Grant's
computer with its unrestricted access to the internet.  Swimming was not on
today anyway.  Wilson and Darwin were blown away by a number of things:
Grant's computer was lightning fast, being a new Mac G5; that he had a DSL
not a dial up connection; that he had no restrictions or "Net Nanny"
filters; that he had his own credit cards, i.e. ones in his name (Paul
Stum) and that his grandpa was not checking in every five minutes to make
sure they were going only to approved sites.

It did not take them very long to discover several interesting groupings of
places to surf, that were normally forbidden to boys their ages.  They
found great and very violent games, they found wonderfully illustrative
pornography of all types and they discovered many news groups.  Some of
those news groups were highly erotic.  In one of the news groups were
several series of pictures of boys their own age.  That was the biggest
hit.  The pictures were not all that risqué although some were.  Most were
of boy in various states of dress mostly shorts and swimsuits or naked.
Some candied, others posed, some good photographic work, others, most in
fact, of poor quality.  Not that our three lads are art critics, they are
not but they know quality when they see it.  They were most interested in
how these boys looked to themselves.  They must look to others like these
pictures look to them, they reasoned.  They looked at each other and yes
that must be the case.  They were smooth and lithe, so were the images.
Wilson had just a bit of baby fat around his tummy so did some of the boys
pictured. They were fascinated by the frequent portal of these lads and
girls in revealing swim ware, in how maleness was portrayed even emphasized
perhaps, in how the material clung to the round butts and often dove into
the cleft.  They were greatly impressed with some of the youngish buff
models on the porn sites too.  Of course they were impressed with huge, by
their standards, penises and scrotums on display, just as they were
impressed with the large breasts of the females.

One picture set was of a young lad, they figured 12.  He started out
dressed and shed his clothing, displaying his body from all sides.  The boy
was erect and had a penis at least 4 and half inches it was sticking out
and a little up.  It looked fat to them and they were impressed.  The boy
had light brown hair and hazel eyes.  He smiled a lot and sported a good
sized scrotum but it did not yet hang down.  He was smooth and hairless
except for his head.  He posed provocatively and the three voyeurs ate it
up.  What set them off the most was his arrow shaped bright red penis head.
It looked so smooth and slick.  Almost like a lollypop.

It only took a few minutes for them to be running around Grant's room in
their briefs and even less to loose them.  They were somehow compelled to
compare themselves and each other to themselves and each other and to the
boys in the pictures.  They had slept in the same sleeping bag, in only
their briefs, just the night before; yet it was as if this was a first
viewing or encounter.

The boys played grab ass and penis pull with lots of giggling and laughing.
A fair amount of tickling too.  All this got started after Grant assured
them being naked was allowable in grandpa's house as long as Mrs. Slocan
was not around.  They quickly discovered they liked the feeling of another
boy's hands on your body and they liked the feeling of yours on his.  Grant
knew all this already and he knew a lot more but held back his knowledge,
letting his friends discover for themselves the delights that awaited.

Wilson though that posing for the camera would be fun so they did some of
that emulating of what they saw in the news groups and some of what they
discovered at the main stream male porn sites.  They looked at lots of
female porn too.  Grant used his digital camera and his web cam.  The boys
clowned around.  They liked the web cam the best, since all three could be
in the images captured.  They were not overly impressed with the quality of
those images.  Critics at an early age, for sure.

.......................

Paul and Eric were enjoying their train ride almost more than they enjoyed
their time at the hotel.  A bedroom on a modern train is not very large but
it is comfortable and it is very privet.  A "bedroom" on a modern
Superliner is ideal for two passengers and if one is a boy all the better.
At night the sofa converts to a bed and the upper birth folds down from
above, it has a ladder.  Eric liked this idea as much as Grant had.  For
Eric he would try it out but would sleep with Paul.  In addition, the room
has its own privet toilet-shower, washbasin and all kinds of other stuff.

Once inside the bedroom, Paul immediately began stripping down.  He removed
his shirt, exposing his muscular upper body. He kicked off his shoes and
dropped his pants and underwear, revealing his heavy, swaying cock.  He was
only semi-hard, so his long penis still hung between his thighs, stretching
down about 6 inches.

Eric grinned and moved up to him.  Paul placed my hands on the bottom of
his shirt and lifted it off over his head, revealing his smooth stomach and
chest.  Paul rubbed my hands up and down his front, squeezing his pecs,
feeling the hard muscle underneath his baby fat.

They kissed again, their hands roving all over each other's bodies.  Eric
reached between them and began groping Paul's cock, pulling down on the
flexible meat and fondling his swinging sac.  Paul groped his bubble butt,
sliding his hands under the waistband of his shorts, squeezing and kneading
each muscular cheek, pulling him closer.  Paul's cock continued to grow
until it reached its full 9.5-inch length.  Paul's erection pressed against
Eric's stomach, oozing copious amounts of precome onto his "insulated"
six-pack.  Paul kissed Eric's shoulder and gently bit at it,

Paul had felt Eric's hard cock pressed against his thigh as they made out,
and his shorts bulged with it.  Paul unzipped his cargo shorts and pulled
them down; his cock strained against his briefs forming an obvious tent.
Paul looked up at his beautiful face, staring past his stomach glistening
with his sticky precome.  He smiled. "Tell me if you remember this one," he
joked, pulling his briefs down and freeing his thin, teenage appendage.

Paul took his cock in hand hand and stroked it, dragging his fist up and
down the full length of it, rubbing his thumb across the sensitive head.
It was leaking a little, but nothing compared to the clear liquid that
flowed from Paul's throbbing member.  Paul buried his face in Eric's thigh,
kissing and licking that space where the thigh meets the pelvis, causing
him to shudder.  Paul brought his mouth down to his sac, licked underneath
it, and took his balls into his mouth, one at a time, gently sucking on
them and bathing them with his tongue.

Eric moaned, placing his hands on the top of Paul's head.  He licked along
the side of Eric's cock, rubbing his lips up and down the narrow length of
it before taking just the head between my lips.  Paul focused on the head,
locking his lips behind the corona and sucking gently as he swirled his
tongue again and again across the tip.  Paul flicked his tongue against the
underside of his boy's swollen cock head.  Eric moaned loudly.  Paul
continued stroking his shaft as he worked the head with his mouth.

It wasn't that Eric was not experienced, hell he was probably as
experienced as Paul had been at 20.  It was different this time.  It was
always different with this man, his man, his new foster father.  Not only
did he love this man but this man loved him and wanted him to know that, to
feel that love and passion.

Paul fondled and pulled on his scrotum as he sucked, sliding his fingers
behind Eric's smooth sack, seeking his prostate.  Paul pressed gently on
the prostate as he sucked on the head.  Eric oozed precome all over his
tongue, it tasted so good.  Paul then let go of Eric's shaft and took him
all the way into my mouth.  He swallowed every inch of boy cock until his
face was buried in his dark, curly pubes. "Oh my fucking God," he called
out, doubling over, so that his upper body was now bent over Paul's head.

Eric's hands gripped his head tightly as he worked the back of his throat
on this boy cock head and suctioned his mouth on his teen penis.  When Paul
could tell that Eric was getting close to coming, he released the cock and
pulled off.

Without saying a word, and before he could protest, Paul spun him around
and pushed him over the easy chair back.  His muscular, teen ass rose up in
the air.  Paul smiled looking at it. It was so round and high, two perfect
tan globes.  Paul pulled his cheeks apart and buried his face between them.
Paul snaked out his tongue, sliding it into Eric's hole and eating his
teenage lover's perfect bubble butt.  He dragged my tongue up and down the
hairless crack, teasing the hole with the tip of it, and then shoved it
into him, swirling it around before pulling out.  As he ate Eric's tight
ass, he squeezed and rubbed his butt cheeks.

Eric whimpered continuously, reaching back to hold Paul's head in place,
pushing his ass back harder onto Junior's face.  He fucked himself on his
tongue.

"Ready?" Paul asked, finally pulling away from the tongue-fucking he was
giving him.

"Oh God yes, Junior," Eric whimpered.

Paul stood up behind Eric and slid his erection up between Eric's ass
cheeks.  He leaned back a little, put his hands on the lad's cheeks, and
squeezed them around his erection, admiring the way his cock looked with
his boy's ass wrapped around it, two halves of a perfectly rounded bun
cradling a hot dog.  "Not Chicago style," Paul though, "no shoestring
fries."  Paul's manhood throbbed and oozed; he pulled it down between the
buns, slicking the cleft with precome.

"Do you like my manhood?" Paul asked, leaning over him, gently thrusting
his hips so that it slid up and down between his buns.  Eric moaned in
response. "Do you want me inside you again?"  Eric pushed his 14-year-old
ass back against him. "Tell me, Eric."

"Yes, Junior," he gasped. "Please fuck me.  I want you inside me.  I need
it.  Please."

Paul leaned down and nibbled gently on his ear. "That's my boy."  He
shuddered.  Paul stepped back and aimed his cock at its target, which was
wet with spit and precome.  Paul pressed the throbbing head of his cock
against Eric's tight sphincter; he watched it twitch, clenching and
unclenching.  He pushed forward, watching as the muscle stretched and
loosened, opening up.  Eric breathed in sharply as the cock head forced its
way through his tight ring; his hole clamped down tightly on it.

Eric's ass gripped Paul's penis forcefully as he continued pushing his way
in, feeding his hard manhood into his hungry ass.  He was as tight as ever,
and his ass twitched and spasmed on Paul's penis.  Eric squeezed himself on
Paul, massaging his invading member with his muscles.  Slowly,
inch-by-inch, Paul filled him with his very long, very hard fuck stick,
until finally Paul was balls deep inside.

Paul leaned over him, putting his body weight on his boy.  Eric was
gripping the chair tightly, holding himself up; his biceps were bulged and
tight as he supported himself and Paul's added weight.  Paul ground his
cock into him, rotating his hips, causing his cock to move around in Eric's
tight hole, opening him up.  Paul slid the shaft over his prostate again
and again, each time eliciting a tiny moan and gurgle from his lover's
throat.  Paul kissed the back of his neck and rubbed his hands along the
sides of Eric's body.  Paul reached around and squeezed his pecs, gently
pinching each nipple between his thumb and forefinger.  Eric whimpered;
Paul whispered, "Good boy," into his ear, and slowly pulled his hips back.

Paul wants his boys to desire only one cock up their butts, his.  He wanted
them to be so completely satisfied each time he made love to them they
would long to none other.  He knew they would seek relief from others but
not the kind of love he would always deliver.

Paul slid out until only the head remained inside, and then he pushed
forward, drilling the full length down into his hole.  He yelped and arched
his back.  Paul ground his cock into him again, and then he began fucking
him with short, fast strokes.  He pulled my penis a few inches out of his
ass and then drove it back in, repeatedly thrusting his hips against the
smooth boy ass.  His balls swung back and forth, loudly slapping Eric's ass
on each downward thrust.  His large cock head stabbed against Eric's
prostate again and again, causing him to moan and whimper.

Eric kept arching his back and thrusting his ass backwards, meeting him
thrust for thrust, trying to take Paul deeper and deeper inside of
him. "That's it, baby," Paul muttered. "Take my cock."  He placed his hands
on his hips and started pulling him back onto himself, fucking his ass
harder and faster.  Eric squeezed his ass muscles tightly around Paul's
manhood, milking him with his youthful muscles.

Harder and harder he fucked Eric, plowing his cock between his cheeks,
driving his pole deep into his teenage ass. "Oh Junior," he groaned.

"Do it, son," Paul encouraged him, still driving his cock in and out of his
ass. "Shoot all over."  There is no better butt fuck than the one that
brings on an ejaculation with no other penis stimulation.  Eric was about
to get another one, not the first from Paul and god he prayed not the last.

Paul felt his ass spasmed and then he heard the split of Eric's thin, salty
load landing on floor.  Paul lost control.  Paul's breathing slowed, and he
stepped back, allowing Eric to stand up straight and move .

He turned around and looked at Paul. "You have the hottest ass, beautiful,"
Paul said, smiling broadly and touching his cheek with his hand.  "You're
so perfect."  Paul looked down into his brown eyes and leaned in to kiss
him.  He responded by slipping his long, thick tongue over Paul's and
shoving it into his mouth.  They kissed deeply.

"You're amazing, Junior," Eric said, leaning into him and putting his head
against his chest.

"You're amazing, too, baby," Paul said.  They cleaned up, dressed again and
spent some time watching the countryside go by.

"Dad?"

"Yes, son."

"Dad, do you and Grant have sex?"

"Yes."

"Will I be expected to have sex with him too?"  Paul had been waiting for
this kind of question.

"No, you are not expected to have sex with anyone not even me."

"But I want to have sex with you.  I love you dad, ah Junior."  Eric was
still getting accustomed to keeping Paul the dad separated from Paul or
Junior the man and lover.

"I know and I want you too.  Grant wants me and I want Grant.  Same for my
dad, your grandfather.  You are not expected to have sex with anyone.  You
are free to choose.  I can assure you my father will never even suggest
such a thing.  If you approach him I am sure he will not reject you but you
will have to do the approaching, at least the first few times."

"And Grant?"

"Your brother is just a boy he may come on to you.  I'm sure he will want
to share his bed with you and like you and I he sleeps nude.  If you say no
he will understand and he will not push it.  He likes to sleep with someone
so you can expect he will want to do that.  No one expects you to do
anything more than friends and well brothers, to get along and hopefully
like each other.  If that moves on to more physical things that is between
you two."

"Is he as sexy in person as he looks in his pictures?"

"Yes and he is very loving and caring and he likes physical contact of all
kinds both sexual and non sexual.  One more thing, I don't know if you
noticed, but he is very bright, almost frightening some times."

"I figured, he sure doesn't talk or write like an eight year old."

"True but emotionally he is just a little boy.  I know it is sometimes hard
to remember that, just think back to when you were 8 or 9 and how you
reacted and felt about things.

"I worshiped my big brother."

"Okay, I can understand that.  Being an only child myself I can only guess
of course."

"What if I let him down like my big brother let me down, you know, take
advantage of him?"

"I doubt that you will do that."

"But how do you know, I don't even know, what if..."

"You know how you felt when you realized your idol had feet of clay.  You
felt betrayed.  You felt disappointed, right?"

"Yes, that kind of puts it mildly.  I was crushed, devastated.  I don't
ever want anyone else to go through feeling like that."

"Exactly why I don't think you will ever knowingly let him down.  You have
been there.  I know you will do your best and that's all anyone can or
should ever ask of another.  It is a matter of expectations and managing
them.  In this family we don't set that bar low or extremely high we just
try to keep it real."

"What if he asks me questions about my birth family?"

"You are free to answer them or not, your choice.  Your past is sealed and
no one in the family should ask.  If they do, it will not be to pry but you
are never obligated to answer.  If others ask, like dad's housekeeper
Mrs. Slocan, just say to painful to talk about, muster a tear or two that
always works wonders.  Just don't lie about it, better to say nothing."

"What should I say when someone asks me which tribe I belong to?  Do I tell
them I speak Navajo?"

"Well you can tell them what ever you want.  I would think you should be
proud of your Native American roots.  It may be hard not to be when your
sun tan fails to fade.  Since most of the Montana Native Americans speak
Cree you won't be able to converse with each other anyway, except in
English, few of them speak Spanish."

Navajo (Diné or Dineh, which means the people) is a member of the
Athapaskan branch of the Na-Dené language family and is spoken by about
120,000 people in Arizona and New Mexico.  It is closely related to the
Apache languages, but completely unrelated to other Native American
languages.  Navajo is a tonal language with three tones: high, rising and
falling.

"But won't people know I am from the southwest?"

"Yes, your accent and horsemanship will give that away right off.  Since
most Navajo live in Arizona they will assume that, just don't correct
them."

.................

PA, Gerald and Grant met the Empire Builder in Havre, it was early
afternoon and this time, on time.  It was now very hot with only those big
white cotton ball clouds in the sky.  The station itself is a rather large
building for a town this size ±9,500 people.  Havre is one of those places
that is getting smaller.  It is the county seat of Hill County, it to is
getting smaller, population wise.  At one time it was an important railroad
town on the Northern Pacific line.  Havre is a lot like Harlowton only
larger, with more Native Americans too.

The station is a rather large two story brick building, with a large
lobby-waiting room.  As Junior and Eric stepped off the train Grant was
absolutely beside himself.  He wanted his dad and he wanted his new
brother.  The poor boy did not know who to embrace first.  That was quickly
resolved as Eric set his travel case down first.  Grant through his arms
around the startled boy, kissed his cheek and greeted him like he had never
been greeted before.  While all this was going on Junior embraced his dad
and Gerald.  He swept Grant up into his arms and held him to his chest.
Grant placed his head on Junior's left shoulder and kept saying "Thank you,
thank you."  There was absolutely no doubt what Grant's opinion of this new
brother was.  While Junior and PA want to fetch the checked baggage, Gerald
took Junior's case and Grant took Eric's hand. "Come with me big brother."
They guided this new grand son into the station.

In front of the depot on the street side is a statue of James J. Hill.
Hill formed the Great Northern Railroad in 1889 from the bankrupt St. Paul
and Pacific Railroad, and extended it to Seattle by 1893.  The commercial
possibilities realized in the northern United States due to Hill's Great
Northern Railway earned him the nickname of "The Empire Builder."  Eric
realized immediately how the train he had just ridden on got it name.  On
display next to the depot in Havre, is former Great Northern Railroad 4-8-4
steam locomotive #2584.  A sign next to the locomotive tells its history.
After putting their bags in the SUV the men, cameras in hand strode over to
look and read the sign.

"Wow that must have been something to watch and hear" Eric exclaimed!

"Yes it was son, not only was the sound of the pistons and drivers
distinctive but the whistle was tuned to GN specifications and in those
days it sounded at every level crossing.  It was some sight to behold.  In
the winter all the water vapor condensed and the thing seemed to arrive
shrouded in clouds.  It had a distinctive smell to.  Not like the coal
fired units.  It smelled more of oil.  Now those coal fired engines had an
acrid kind of smell.  Even if you didn't see or hear the engine you knew it
had gone by only a few minutes before by the smell," Jerry explained.

The boys and Junior asked more questions about the engine.  They marveled
at the size of things like the drivers.  They imagined what it would be
like to stick you head out of the window, feeling the wind in your face as
you moved the throttle and pulled the whistle cord.

Another skip if you wish:

[Author's note: When I looked up the details of the sign mentioned
above,and quoted at the end of the chapter, I came across the following
account of how Havre got its name.  Having mused on this when our heroes
were last in Havre, I though this explanation deserved to be represented.

Havre (pronounced Have'er)

The naming of Havre, according to William T. Cowan's memoirs.

"The coming of the railroad in 1887 and '88 brought many workers and their
families to Bull Hook Bottoms, later called Havre, according to William
T. Cowan's memoirs.

The name Havre came from the following story:

"Two French-Canadian squatters on Bull Hook Bottoms were French Gus
Descelles, a little sawed off man, and Joe De Mars, a very large, strong
man.  They got in a fight over the affection of a charming girl and Joe De
Mars got the best of the struggle.  Little French Gus reportedly said 'you
can have her' and this is how Havre supposedly got it's name." The Great
Northern Railway was the main supply line for Fort Assinniboine, located 5
miles southwest of Havre.  The railroad is still one of the main economic
forces in the community."]

back to the story

On the way to the ice-cream store and some long, cool, ice cream, sodas,
Junior spotted a western clothing store specializing in boots and tack.  PA
smiled when Junior insisted they stop, well Eric did need riding boots
didn't he.  Grant was excited remembering his first pair of boots.  Junior
knew that this would not be Eric's first pair of riding boots, that he grew
up on a ranch.  They would be his first as Eric Hoffman and he, dad was
providing them.  Jerry was not concerned, he did not want Junior purchasing
any tack but he figured Junior would assume what ever was needed was
already at the ranch.  It was too, but Jerry had a special surprise for
Eric, something that would demonstrate that he was accepted into the
family.

All the way back to the ranch Grant and Eric talked non stop in the back of
the SUV.  They were filling each other in on all the details relating to
each other many adventures of late.  Jerry sat on the middle seat so he
could interact with all "his" boys, although he gave most of his attention
to the youngest.  Right from their first hand shake Jerry knew, Junior did
well in finding this new Eric.  No father should have to suffer the pain of
outliving his son.  When that happens we men have only three choices: we
fall apart, we carry on or we become bitter.  Jerry carried on, it was the
only way he knew, besides he had Junior, his Eric's son.  His grandson
unknowingly gave him the inspiration to carry on.  Now he had two wonderful
great grandchildren, one who freely chose to honor his Eric by taking on
his name.

Jerry though back to his first contact with the boy.  The telephone call
from Junior who filled him in a bit and then turned the conversation over
to the not quite changed voice, the youthful voice of a boy.  That voice
saying, "Sir, I hope you won't be upset, Dr. Stum said you would not but I
got to ask, is it okay with you that I chose your family name and the first
name of your late son for myself?"

"Tell me son, why you chose it," Jerry asked?

"Two reasons sir.  When Dr. Stum suggested the name of his biological
father I was honored.  At first I was overwhelmed by his confidence.  When
he confirmed that person was the same model and actor whose work I have
admired since I can remember; I don't know how to say this but I am the one
who is being honored."

"Well Eric, you know it feels good to say that name to family again, I
think we honor each other.  I'm sorry that your situation made it necessary
for you to choose a new name but I'm happy you chose Eric Hoffman.  You
probably don't know this yet but Junior's dad Paul and his biological
father Eric were best friends as boys, they were like brothers.  I never
thought I would have the chance to take my two boys, Paul and Eric fishing
or just tell them stories again but your foster brother is Paul Grant and
you are now Eric.  Wow, I'm just blown away, as you boys say.  I sure hope
you like to fish."

"Oh, yes sir, I like it a lot sir."

"Well Ok, but I think gigi or great grand pa is a lot better than sir.  You
know that Junior's middle name is Eric, well maybe you didn't but you do
now.  Did you choose a middle name?"

"Yes si...r, uh gigi, I chose Timothy, he is the lawyer that Dr. Stum got
to represent me."

"That's good Eric, I know Tim, met him when I was down their last winter.
He is a fine young fellow, did one hell of a good job for Grant, I take it
you were impressed."

"Big time, you should have seen him and Dr. Stum tie those social service
people up, if words were ropes they'd still be trying to get loose."

At the time of his conversation and off and on since then Jerry mused on
how much Ruth would have enjoyed these boys.  That was not to be but he
could honor her memory by making sure he remained as a positive presence in
their lives.  In all of their lives.  There is nothing more rewarding or
nobel then service to others, except service to younger family perhaps.

He could see lots of traits in this namesake that were shared with his
Eric.  They were both on stage, bubbling with raw talent.  They were both
exhibitionists, unabashed and unashamed.  They both had engaging eyes and
killer smiles.  The big difference was this young man had already
experienced the exhilaration of applying his talent.  He would not need to
go away from home to follow his dream.  ..................

[This is another of those read if your interested sections]

The sign said:

"This Northern type locomotive, survivor of the last steam engines acquired
by the Great Northern Railway for mainline passenger service, was placed on
permanent exhibition here on May 15, 1964.

A powerful and speedy locomotive, this engine now looks every bit the
aristocrat that it was during the years, of its preeminent association with
the Empire Builder and the Oriental Limited.  The Empire Builder was
inaugurated in June, 1929, and was pulled by a Mountain type locomotive,
but popularity of the train led to addition of cars to the consist, and
this necessitated more powerful engines.

In 1930 Great Northern acquired 14 Class S-2 steam locomotives from Baldwin
Locomotive Works for service on the Empire Builder and the Fast Mail
trains.  This engine - No 2564 is the last of the 14 engines.  Samuel
Vauclain, President of Baldwin described the Class S-2 engines as "the
finest, most powerful steam passenger locomotives ever built up to this
time." These engines were operated in freight service after the Empire
Builder was streamlined and diesel powered in 1947, and were retired in
1955.

Locomotive and tender are 103 feet 3 inches long, weight 764,680 pounds,
and height from rail to top of stack is 16 feet. No 2584 was an oil burner
and developed 58,305 pounds of tractive effort.  Each of the 8 drive wheels
is 80 inches high.

The track on which No 2584 stands is laid to Great Northern main line
specifications. The creosoted ties are supported on a sub-ballast
consisting of 6 inches of crushed rock chips and a ballast consisting of 6
inches of crushed pink quartzite rock. Both of which are quarried by the
Great Northern in Montana. Welded rails fully tie plated and anchored,
weight 115 pounds to the yard."]