"You'll think you're going one direction, but they'll say you're going opposite. Then there will be arguments about which way you should go, so you and they will disagree a lot of the time. You'll tell them that they don't understand, that you know best and to let you alone to decide.

"But they'll tell you that you don't understand, that you're still their child, and that they are responsible for getting you up that hill. Sometimes you'll go along with part or all of what they want and other times you'll disobey, and some of those times you'll get in trouble from making mistakes which looking back on seem downright stupid. But you didn't know that at the time.

"That's when you'll feel like a fool and start wondering if you're ever going to make it to the top of that darn hill and grow up. Your parents will wonder about that too. They'll criticize the path you've chosen to travel and who you're traveling with, and they'll decide that you can't get to where they want you to go from the way you're going. So they'll try to set you on a different path in different company. That's when things will really get hot between you.

"They'll tell you they never did the darn fool things you're doing when they were your age. And that's true. They did different darn fool things. But they'll mean well even when you think they're just being mean. And you'll try your best even when they think you're not trying at all. And somehow, despite losing your way, backsliding, breaking a few bones and a lot of hopes and promises, you'll make it to the top of that hill.

"Then looking back down, you'll see what a long way you've come. You see that in some ways your parents were right and in some ways that they were wrong about your path. In some ways they were a help to you and in other ways a hindrance. But you'll understand that at least they tried to do what was right even when it was wrong. And you'll know that at last you've reached the top of Fool's Hill because they're not interested in pushing at you any more, and you're not interested in pushing back at them. Now you'll be able to climb something bigger, and to climb it without their help."

"What's that?" I asked.

He laughed. "Well, I guess you could call it Fool's Mountain. But whatever you call it, you'll find enough triumph and trouble on your way up to last a lifetime. No matter how far you climb, you'll never get to the top. And no matter how well you climb, there will be times, after some stumbling steps from some stupid choices, that you'll wonder if you're not back where you began, still struggling up that old Fool's Hill."

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