It’s amazing what chance can mean to anyone, for example, although separated by only three minutes, twins Zach and Gerry came into this world as two different people, two very different people and a best-selling father who loved them. both and wanted to see what drove the brother different.
Probably few people know that Buzz Bizzinger, best-selling author of Friday Night Lights and Three Nights in August, is the father of two very different twins. The eldest is quite normal, a graduate student preparing for the world of teaching, while his “baby”, only three minutes younger than his older brother, is a person who could best be described as a scholar.
Zach is a remarkable man in his own right and though he will need to be cared for for the rest of his life, a life that no one other than Zach can know.
Zach is a scholar with an extraordinary memory. In fact, he is a perfect memory. He also understands navigation in ways that we can’t. And then there’s the utter honesty of him that he can make you seem wise and simple at the same time.
“Father’s Day” is a very special story when Bizzinger realized that although he knew his son Gerry, he didn’t know exactly who his youngest son was, so they went on a journey together to places they knew, the places they had visited and areas where they had lived.
This is as much a journey about the father as it is about his son. Once they’re on the road with Gerry heading to Philadelphia, the story turns into one of father and son bonding as the father learns things about his youngest son that he never knew. He also begins to see how his son’s mind works, as well as how his heart works.
It’s amazing how the twins can interact, and with Gerry’s help, Zach shows his father a depth of character that goes beyond what one would normally expect. Zach is a perceptive man. He is much more patient than his father would have thought and is, in his own way, fearless, but kind.
He is what others would call a good man, but he may never know true love from a woman or may never be able to function outside of the special schools and facilities he needs. Zach turned out to be very surprising to his father, and his father learned some surprising lessons about himself, the kind of lessons only a long journey with his family can teach him.
Zach is an amazing man and will prove to be the best son he can be, given his limitations. Bizzinger learned that in a journey you will find that it is worth it.