"It's okay Mom, I be WIIIIGGHT back..."

My only son was born 6 years after my 2nd daughter. He weighed 8 1/2 pounds even though he was 3 weeks early! He was spoiled rotten by his big sisters and pretty much anyone who looked at those big brown eyes and long eyelashes.  He was always up for an adventure. When he was 3, we lived near a Grocery Store. One day he decided he wanted to go to the store so off he went. I looked out my bedroom window and see my little guy, who only a minute before was in his room playing with cars, now off in the distance. I opened the window and yelled at him to come home and he yelled back "it's okay Mom I be wight back" and turns around and keeps going. When he wanted something there was nothing stopping him from achieving his goal!

He learned to ride his bike, then a dirt bike and he's been racing off into the distance ever since. He earned alot of trophies and was a pretty good sport. There were a couple of injuries that I didn't hear about until much later. Imagine my surprise when he says "...remember that time I rode in the ambulance after I broke my back?" to which I said "YOU DID WHAT?" Probably a good thing I didn't know about that one or I would have wheelie'd that motorcycle into the dump myself!

That boy was good at pretty much everything he tried. I loved to watch him play football, race BMX bikes, dirt bikes and just hang out with him. He is a toughie but he has a soft side as well. When he was a little man, he would hold the door for me and he would play under the quilt I was sewing and he would bring me dandelions and say "Look Mom, I brought you fowlers" or "Okay Mom, see ya later, I'm going to build Kelsie a house" (Kelsie being his imaginary daughter) and then say "I'm a good dad huh Mom!"

A few months ago, he had his wisdom teeth taken out. When he was just coming out of the anesthesia they let me go back in the post op room to see him. He looked up at me in a fog and with a mouth full of cotton says "HI MOM" and the nurse and I laughed at the slur in his speech. I said he was a good boy and the nurse agreed. Then he says "...I LOVE MY MOM AND I DON'T EVEN CARE WHO KNOWS" and grins with his cotton-stuffed chipmunk cheeks.

My son is a good friend and a blessing in my life. He has gracefully endured challenges along the way and done so with great insight and maturity. He is a wise old soul at 18. Tomorrow it will be my great pleasure to be there as he is sworn in as a Marine. He is beginning a new adventure in his life. I'm sure there are many difficult days ahead of him but I am sure he will handle them with strength and courage. I love you son and I am so very proud to be your Mom.