When I was a kid, I loved to read “Calvin and Hobbes.”

I still do. Really, what’s not to like? But there’s a distinct difference between how I see in the iconic cartoon duo now versus what I saw as a kid.

As a kid, “Calvin and Hobbes” was something to read in the comics section of the Sunday paper, something to make me laugh and nothing more. As I read it now though, I look at Calvin and Hobbes from a different angle. The comic takes on a new meaning – a more philosophical meaning, influenced by the boring, gray world of adulthood, I guess. Lately, I’ve found there’s a lot of life lessons to be learned from “Calvin and Hobbes,” particularly from Hobbes, the stuffed tiger, imaginary friend and most importantly, childhood mentor to the bright, albeit dysfunctional six-year-old Calvin.

I know it sounds awfully “Full House”-ish, but I really do believe mentorship is a priority, particularly in a rural area such as ours, where so many kids seem to have nothing better to do but talk like truckers in the Byrne Dairy parking lot. There’s no question that mentoring helps to shape productive, open-minded and more tolerant members of society, and it eases kids in the transition between youth and all its disappointments into adulthood ... and all its disappointments.