Greg:
The first time I remember sailing was when I was about nine years old. My dad had spent the better part of ten years refurbishing a sailboat that had once belonged to John F. Kennedy before he had gone into politics; or so the story goes. All I know was that from the time I could toddle around on my own, I spent hours with my father watching him work on that boat; waiting in anticipation until the day when it would be ready to take it out onto the water.
I will remember that day for the rest of my life. It seemed that the moment we were on the water, I was transformed to a magical place; a place where I had my father's undivided attention and time was nonexistent. We spent many a day out on the sailboat that summer and I don't really think I realize until much later what a privilege it was not only to have that much of my father's time, but also to be able to do something that so many people could only dream about.
It came to an end when my father was transferred from New York to San Francisco and the sailboat had to stay behind. He never did get around to replacing it; I think it broke his heart to think that any other boat could ever take its place. He would borrow one from time to time, but it never was the same.
I hit my teens and that's when I realized that I had a gift for math and science that most people didn't. It came all too easy to me and so when I finally had the chance to go away to college a full two years before most of my peers, I took full advantage of it. Not only did I get straight A's throughout my years at Stanford, I had a full social life, and for the first time, I didn't have anyone telling me the proper way to behave.
When I learned of an opening at the Las Vegas crime lab, it seemed that fate was calling me. What better mix than to work at the number two crime lab in the wildest city in the country. I immediately jumped at the chance.
A strange thing happened though after I got that job. I never expected to be so affected by the people around me. I had taken my idyllic life for granted and all around me people that were seeing death every daywere managing to keep on living through it. All of them seemed to have some underlying purpose driving them to get answers for victims.
Something stirred inside me; something far beyond my silver spoon upbringing and hedonistic lifestyle. I found that while I was good at what I did; I wanted to make more of a difference; I wanted to be out in the field. I asked Grissom about it once and he pointed out that I'd be taking a significant pay cut if I left the lab. What he didn't understand about me though was that you can have all the money in the world and still not be happy. I never lacked for things; what I lacked was a purpose and the feeling that I was making a difference; a real difference.
As I've worked in the field this last year I finally get it. And as I've observed my coworkers, that are far more like my family than just people that I work with, I wonder what each of them was like when they were nine.
The End
Author's Note: This was an idea that I just couldn't get out of my head after watching "Still Life". I hope you've enjoyed it.