This is an excerpt of an interview with actor Martin Sheen by Mo Rocca on “CBS Sunday Morning,” 10/23/2011
“Over the past year,” Rocca asked Martin Sheen, “how was it as a father to watch your son Charlie go through what he went through publicly?”
“Are you a father?” Martin asked.
“No.”
“Well, then you can’t know. No one can.”
And that’s just the beginning of this fantastic interview, which includes Sheen’s other son, Emilio Estevez, who is directing him in a new movie called “The Way.”
I don’t write about my kids much on this blog. When I do (as I did last week), I am very, very careful. This space is not a space to be candid about my teenagers. It is a public space. My kids have Facebook pages. They have lives. They deserve privacy.
Thank the good Lord, I have not gone through what Martin Sheen has gone through as a parent. But my kids have had their struggles. They are not for public consumption.
On Saturday, I called my best friend, and we shared details of what’s going in our families–the good, the bad, the ugly. If you call me on the phone, even if I’m at Walmart, sure, I’ll share. If you sit across from me at breakfast, I’ll give details. But not here.
Please don’t think it’s all bad. A lot is good. But that’s for them to share. I try to keep what I write here neutral. I try to honor my kids and the fact that they are not done growing up.
And to be fair, neither am I.
