It is surely the strangest of phenomena that every mother's son is a miracle through her eyes. She watches him at two, Legos covering every inch of the playroom floor, and she pictures him twenty-five years down the road, erecting the world's most interesting building. She watches him playing doctor at five, and her eyes blur into a picture of him finding a cure for cancer at thirty. Each athletic achievement, science fair project and spelling bee win as he makes his way through school, proves to her that he is destined to change the world, or at least his part of it. She will always be his biggest fan, and rarely will he disappoint her.
Mike came to visit for a few days this week. He left yesterday, and I already miss him. I remember when he left for a year's internship in Fresno, California. He was in his twenties, and it was time for him to travel and see the world. He was, however, a major part of my world, and his years in Gainesville were tough enough on me. How was I ever going to make it if he spent a year in California? What if he decided to stay? I stood by my window, tears in my eyes and was sure I would not be truly happy again.
I made it through that year, and I even laughed a lot, and I laughed through the years that followed. I was thrilled for him when he decided to start his practice in New York. I had learned that his happiness made me happier than his proximity to my house. We can talk on the phone as often as I want, and he is only an airplane ride away. I like to take this opportunity each year to thank Michael, and the other psychologists, physicians, police officers and firefighters who spent countless hours at "ground zero" helping to make sense of a senseless event. Although he doesn't see it, he is making a difference, and where ever he calls home, through his mother's eyes he will have changed his part of the world for the better.
The book I reviewed today, Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern, is written by a son who recognized his dad's worth when he moved back home at the age twenty-eight. Suddenly his blunt speaking dad was making sense. His words were to the point and often hilarious, and Justin began sharing them with friends. His friends loved the edgy quotes, and so this book was born. Definitely worth your time.
I spent so much time enjoying "Mike time" this week, that I only had time to read and review that one book. Luckily we have two guest reviews this week, and I am busily catching up on my reading for next week's blog. As always, the review follows my blog.
Happy reading,
Beverly