My first-born son had his first-born son. For this child we have prayed and prayed and prayed. We are blessed beyond measure. Prayers answered in that Mommy and baby are doing fine. But one of those dreams that parents dream has been realized. My son had a son.
I always wanted my first child to be a boy. I think it was because I always wanted a big brother. Big brothers took up for you in the neighborhood and gave you someone to look up to. I wanted my oldest to be a boy and even though I didn’t know the sex of my child before he was born, I knew he was a boy. Don’t ask, I just knew. And I was so happy to have had a son.
He has lived up to the hype. This boy never questioned a thing I did or asked him to do. He may have given me “that look” but he always did as I asked. He took care of his younger sisters and brother, and for a lot of time in my life, he took care of me. And when it was time to venture out into the world, he did everything I expected of him, and so much more. He has always been a role model to those behind him and been a stabilizing factor in all of our lives. Does he have flaws? Of course. But he’s a son, not a super hero (I bet he thinks he’s a super hero right now).
This boy has lived life on his terms. When life has gotten him down he has never tucked his tail and run. He has made do with the situation and adjusted his game plan and got to work. Some of my favorite times of his life include his success on the soccer field, both as a player and as a coach; his love for teaching, his love of history and all of the social sciences, his love for the woman who is the mother of his children, and his love for me and the rest of his family.
When my son was 14 he again became a big brother. At 16 it happened again. And he has loved his brother and sisters as much as any sibling could. I made his life hell, I’m sure because it was easiest, since he was driving, to drop the little ones off at the babysitter before he dropped his sister off at school and went to school himself. Any parent knows that routine is tedious and anxious and very inconvenient. And for a 16 year old to take on that responsibility so that he could take it off of his mother was only a godsend. And even though he left 2 years later to go away to college and never move home again, you couldn’t tell it with his youngest siblings. They thought he hung the moon. When he would come home they were all over him. When we would go to visit him they asked special favors. So, as a mother I never had to go to Laser Tag or see too many Disney movies. Big brother Jay took care of that. It’s funny now to hear them talk about weekends at his house where he fed them really cheap cereal all weekend. That’s what he ate so that’s what they ate.
I would like to think that it’s that experience with his siblings which had him longing for children of his own. I’m sure it had something to do with the love of his life as well. When you find that special someone you want to experience all that life has to offer with that person. I’m so proud that they have stood together in good times and in very bad times. I can only imagine what they have gone through since they joined forces but I know that they truly love each other.
And now, the fruit of their love stares them in the face. Even though this beautiful child reminds me so much of his father, I know that it is his mother’s face which is looking at me (actually probably more like her father). But he has some of the same looks that his daddy has had through the years. I want to find all of the pictures of my son growing up because as this little boy grows up then I’m sure his face will change. But I am also sure that he will always be my son’s son, and for that I am eternally grateful.
