Stephen Howe, owner of Howe & Bassett, writes poems, prose and creates original crossword puzzles in his spare time. Click on the links below.

Stephen Howe, sees the world through the eyes of his son.

Best Lyrics — The first customer to identify all of them (without Google) will be sent a jar of Bio-Clean.

Poems by Stephen Howe:
9/10/06
College, week 1
The Rifle
Favorite Sports Poems by Others
Summer
Son In The Attic
Fall
Coat Tree
Heavy
Merlin

Beth & Rusty
This was written by my cousin about her sister, Beth & Rusty, my Best Man

Crossword Puzzles by Stephen Howe:
Everyone's Irish on St. Patricks Day
Time on my Hands

A Father Sees a New World Through the Eyes of His Son
By Stephen Howe
Stephen Howe, owner of Howe & Bassett, wrote this in 1989. The article originally appeared in the Democrat & Chronicle in a Saturday column called "Growing".

Kennedy Charles! I roar with the bravado of an experienced father. You stop that this instant! A year-old on the Ides of March, K.C. is curious as a cat and risking his nine lives daily. That means I've been practicing my parenting for over a year, yet I learn my lessons about parenting a split second after I need to.

It happens all over the world, but let's consider the consequences of our particular miracle. My five sisters sport giggle-lines and quibble over baby-sitting rights, each being the "favorite aunt." Four brothers, all men, are spotted on hands and knees, making unintelligible sounds. My mother shares the intimacies of their common profession with her daughter-in-law, letting her son slip into his own family, stengthening their own bond in the process.

The boy's grandfather lights up when K.C. arrives, ten years falling from his face. People arrive early for family gatherings, listening for the raspberries that identify the youngest relation. Rootman, at 91, is the elder stateman of our brood. Having spent the last 13 years perfecting the art of distributing dog hair evenly among living spaces, now stands on tiptoes with a watchful eye for crackers and size one hightops.

People in Nashville and Atlanta are becoming grandparents. Aunts and uncles spring up in Florida and D.C. The news travels to the West Coast, Australia, Indonesia, Israel and England.

Adventure lurks in the library, at the markets, and Sunday mornings are no longer sleepy. No taveling light, no quiet dinners, no regrets.

Yes, this spring has been special. Kennedy sees things for the first time, and so, it seems, do we. My first trip to ToysR Us, reminded me of the time I brought a British visitor to a Wegmans superstore. It's a wondrous time of constant change. Cupboards become caves, and chairs become ladders. Vacuums are race cars, walls merely canvas.

Strangers are compelled to comment on meeting K.C. Sometimes they touch, other times just a moon-faced stare. He's so big! What blue eyes! Such a good age. There have been more than 400 days of growing since his helplessness entered the world. Ahead of us are visits to the zoo and the museum, birthday parties, baseball, yard work and homework. Parades, stargazing, Christmas caroling, and egg coloring. We'll pick strwberries and pumpkins, have father-son talks and learn to drive. A good age?

Yes, aren't they all?

Stephen Howe, 34, lives in Rochester with his wife Phyllis, and his son, Kennedy Charles. Howe is a plumber and his wife works part-time with a catering service. All nine of Howe's siblings and his parents live in Rochester.