twelfth night

it's already been a year since this post.

twelve. he's 12 today. a couple of days ago he wrote a critique on "pandora's box". all by himself. he grabbed the laptop and wrote sentences like:

Pandora's regretfulness was immeasurable. Epimetheus let out a scream of shock and pain. One could easily disagree with how Zeus threw a colossal banquet for one single mortal, and the fact that Epimetheus was so entranced by Pandora was downright unrealistic. But the explicit detail grasps the reader's attention quite nicely. Strangely enough, this ancient myth explains how one person can change the whole world forever. 

i couldn't help but think how he has changed my world forever. 

his study of the ides of march had him taken aback by the betrayal. i love that injustice still surprises him. he's so full of wonder and possibility. he sees the glass as half full. he's so quick to forgive. to laugh off a joke. he's passionate about music and has an artist's eye when it comes to seeing the world. he can read people and situations like a boy much older than his 12 years. he wants to grow up faster than i feel comfortable. he is our pioneer in many ways. testing the boundaries. pushing the envelope. 

openly, he asks hard questions without hesitation. he does not shy away from life. in public settings, he's the first to volunteer to do ANYTHING. never met a stranger, the kind of boy you'd want in your fox hole. 

i am deeply humbled and exhausted from my last 12 years playing the role of his mother in his adaptation of "my life: the charlie utley story".

our boy is 12 today. he's worked feverishly on a presentation on the ides of march that he will give at his tutorial today. even planning the visual aides. the accompanying red velvet cupcakes with mini daggers were his idea. 

i can only hope that his life continues to flourish, that betrayals are kept at bay, that life is always seen as full of wonder and intrigue, that his love for others comes back full fold, that nothing tempers his passion except reason and wisdom and that he will continue to share his winsome merry eyes with a world that is so very lucky. 

happiest of birthday, to our second son, our beloved brother, our truest friend.

xo,

a very proud mama