About a Boy

"if i have one monument in this world, it is my son. he is a joy, a sheer delight."-maya angelou

my firstborn came out yelling. he yelled in utero. the doctor observed, "i don't believe i have ever heard a baby cry from inside his mother." he yelled as they walked him down the hall. then the doctor put this crying baby in my arms. i said, "it's mama, baby. it's mama." and as my sister looked on, this fussy baby quieted. at that moment i realized, "he is mine."

this boy, who is 13 today, has carried the responsibility of his parents' fledgling attempts to "get it right". he has shouldered the weight of being the big brother to 3 younger brothers. and he has managed to keep a dry wit and a passion about him despite my best efforts to ruin him.

o, how i despair when i consider the many times my lack of patience got get the best of me. yet, his stalwart desire to cultivate his curiosities prevail. if this is not god's kindess to me, then please tell me what is. 

my boy, who is now a teenager, shows his compassion in ways that are foreign to me. i extend a hand to the hurting. his is through his unquenchable enchantment with nature. 

he is enraptured with the moss he finds in the Eastern Forest, the name he gave to our backyard. ferns, spores, dicots, and gymnosperms are words he throws around like most boys his age quote sports statistics.

he far surpasses me in subjects of science and math-and he is not in the least bit reticent about it. his father is his best friend and can readily keep up with his growing interests long after my eyes begin to glaze over. 

html and java script interest him over texting or facebook. he doesn't enjoy his brother's love of rock and roll music as much as blue grass and classical. he can be a little grumpy and ill-tempered much like an 82 year old man, but he can also be ever so eccentric and winsome. 

he reminds me of wendall berry, with his proclivity for resourcefulness. while his brothers burn through their allowances, he saves his money. things do not interest him the way abstract ideas and scientific theory do. 

upon arriving to any spot, his first observation is, "well, these trees are great for climbing." 

o, what a joy and delight this boy has been to my heart and soul for 13 years. i guess you could say, he taught me everything i know about being a mother. and he would say, his work is not finished. xo