Monday, March 13, 2017

Six

My Lovey,

A week ago you turned six. SIX. My incredulousness at your getting older never ceases.


Photo credits: Lara Agnew Photography
As I think I say every year, the passage of time is so strange. It’s now been more than a year -- since about a week before you turned five -- since my last chemo infusion, and I realize with an odd sadness that you may never remember how sick I once was. Will you recall how often we snuggled on the couch watching movies in the days after my infusions? Will you know how often I fell asleep with you at night after tucking you in because the steroids had worn off and I couldn’t keep my eyes open past 8 o’clock, and how the warmth and heft of your little body rooted me solidly to this world when I wasn’t sure how much more I could take? Do you know how powerful your love is?

And here we are, cancer and the fear it brought to our lives not such a tremendous cornerstone anymore. Do you feel the shift?

It has been a year of tremendous adjustments for all of us. 2016 brought some earthquakes to our world, but here we are, still standing. Watching the dust settle. Exhaling. Finding our footing on new ground.

Photo credit: Lara Agnew Photography
You started kindergarten and have learned to really read this year: all of the signs along the road as we’re driving, and books to me at night, which still makes me tear up with pride and astonishment that I’m here to see this unfold. 

You're riding your bike (without training wheels) to our neighbors' house to see if they can play for the entire afternoon, as you should be. You want to be a ninja and a policeman and an astronaut. You played your first season of flag football as a Seahawk, much to your dad’s chagrin. You are interested in trying everything -- though still wary of most vegetables. Karate, rock climbing, ice skating, Lego club, Spanish, your school’s Variety Show, skiing. We have always loved your zest for life.

Still, I have to reign you in a bit because, truthfully, I miss you. 







You are six, and underwear jokes are funny. "Mom! Look under there!" you exclaim. And if I'm caught off guard (or playing along), I'll respond, "Under where?" which makes you giggle every time.  "Haha -- gotcha!" you say. You make up games constantly: let's pretend the floor is hot lava; let’s play the “weird word” game in the car, where you make up a word and try to guess how it's spelled; here’s a game called Toyota collect, where we have to count the Toyotas we pass; this one's called shark attack, and we yell "shark attack" when we see a yellow car; let’s find the colors of the rainbow in order as we drive (purple is always the hardest); now 20 questions or “I spy.” Your creativity and boundless energy astound me.

You’ve lost two teeth and have been visited by the tooth fairy. She leaves you tiny notes reminding you not to eat too much sugar, that you have to take care of your adult teeth now because these are it for the rest of your life. Around the corner is Easter, and with it the Easter bunny, and you've started asking questions about what Easter means, and why in the world eggs and bunnies would have anything to do with Jesus rising from the dead. Rebirth, I try to explain.

Please stay here just a bit longer, in this time and place where you still run to greet me at the end of the school day, where you love and marvel at mud puddles, and still choose a favorite stuffed animal as your show-and-tell item when it's your week to be Star Student.

Six means one-third of the way to eighteen, and I’m not close to ready for it. Time is short, even when you've been given the miracle of more of it. But I can’t write this without acknowledging how flipping lucky I am to be here for any of it. I think I am the luckiest mom who ever was. 





The other day you asked me what an angel was, and I tried to explain that some people believe they're spirits who watch over and protect us. You looked promptly at me and said, "Mommy, you're my angel!" And just when I didn't think my heart could melt any more, you said, "And I'm yours." Yes, love, yes you are. You always have been.

Happy SIXTH birthday, buddy!

Love,
Mom

3 comments:

  1. Jen I feel as if we have been watching him grow up alongside you into the fine little man he is today :-)

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  2. You paint with words. You make me proud. Always.

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