Sentinals in the Night

The freeway was mostly empty of cars last night as I drove home from work. By midnight, most people have enough sense to be off the roads and at home in bed. As I proceeded home, I had driven past that stretch of the parkway with a lot of businesses on either side of the road and the only illumination came from my headlights and from the freeway lighting mounted on the towering poles in the center of the road. The lights were mounted in pairs, each light facing out toward either side of the road. The pairs of lights stood like sentinels, one pair after another stretching out ahead of me. The yellowish points of light snaked out into the night, sometimes rising, sometimes falling. These sentinels lit my way ahead, undulating to the left and right and then straightening out for a stretch of road. The road would dogleg to the left again or to the right perhaps. I had a sure sense of where the road would go just ahead and I could mentally note that I would need to turn just a bit to the left or right in about a minute. These sentinels were my unwavering guides to what lay just ahead and they marked the way home through the darkness that covered the land on either side of the road.

As kids, you are so very fortunate to have parents who love you and who want only the best for you. At least for awhile, they will be there for you, like those streetlights were for me on the freeway. Your mom and dad will be there to guide you and offer you advice as you get older and prepare for the time when you will be expected to live on your own and to make your own decisons independently.

As you have probably already figured out, the world can be a pretty confusing and complicated place. Everything is not necessarily what it seems to be. In some situations, you will have a difficult time deciding which of two possible choices you should select. So many things are just so unclear or just a complete mystery. However, for the moment, your parents can help you to make good choices and good decisions. They will be there for you when you need them. And if you make a mistake or screw up, they will love you just the same. When they were young like you, they made mistakes too. But they learned from their mistakes, just as you will learn from your own mistakes.

They are the sentinals who will help you to see the path ahead into the future. Your mom and dad are the sentinals who will enable you to one day be able to leave home and to go out into the world, living on your own... living independently. For now, they will light your way to that day.

Questions to Answer:

1. What does the word, sentinal, mean?

2. In exploring the role your parents play in your lives, what is the main idea of this passage.

3. How are the streetlights on the freeway like sentinals?

4. Do you think that comparing your parents to sentinals helps you to understand the main idea of this passage? Why or why not?