Oh Danny Boy....

I've written numerous posts about my cream filling son.  I am certain I will write numerous more.  I can't help it.  He inspires me.  He is an amazing human being.  He will give me credit for him becoming that human being....I will take none.  Even though, as of late, I see myself so clearly in him it scares me - the good and the bad.  However, the impact of who he is as a person and the way he will change the lives of everyone he meets is all him.  He inspires me to live up to his opinion and vision of me.  He thinks I'm incredible....so I need to strive to be that.  He deserves nothing less.

He got engaged last month.  It was just a heartwarming, magical moment.  His fiance?  She's just as incredible as he is.  I see them together and I think, wow!  How lucky are they that they found each other at the tender age of 16 and 17 and realized it then!  I see their future so clearly and it is going to be amazing!  God definitely works through them and it's so beautiful to watch and be a part of.  They are living with me right now so I get a front row seat and I get to spend a lot of time with my future daughter in law which is a gift in itself.  Before he started dating her I wrote a blog post which was a letter to his future wife.  Well....she's more than I could have hoped for.  I'm so grateful for her presence in our lives and for her being part of our family.  She sees my son the way I see my son.  And by her loving him the way she does she is allowing him to grow into the man he is becoming---the man he is meant to be.  What a blessing.

I tease her all the time because my son and I have a very unique relationship.  We joke and dis each other and if anyone who didn't know us heard the way we talk to each other they would be shocked and appalled.  When he is rude and obnoxious to me I look at her and say "Do you see that?  Tsk Tsk you know they say you can tell how a man will treat his wife by the way he treats his mother!  You should be writing this down!"  She laughs and says "I know!  I'm scared! I think I need a new notebook!"  Truth in that statement?  She's the luckiest woman alive.  If that is true, that you can tell what kind of husband he will be by the way he treats his mother?  She will be treasured and adored for the rest of her life.  The honest truth is that my son treats me like gold.  He never disrespects me.  He always wants to help me and make life easier. He appreciates me the way most children appreciate their parents once they are parents themselves. She's in for a wonderful life!  And she deserves it...she is an answered prayer in the way she loves my son!

Last week after working 8 hours 5 days a week and going to school 2 full days (with 5 hours of commute time...in traffic) he stopped to buy flowers for his fiance.  We were talking on the phone while he was doing this.  When I got home there was candy and cake on the table for his sister and me as well with notes from him.  I had asked him on the phone why he was doing this when he was clearly so tired and stressed and he said it made him happy to do nice things for her.  It made him feel good to make her happy.  It brought me back to a Christmas when he was recovering from cancer and he made my dad take him out shopping to buy presents.  He bought (with his own money) gifts for his siblings, his dad and me and his grandparents.  I was struck then at how happy he was to give those presents.  He was 11!

This week I was feeling overwhelmingly sad.  So many changes in life and yet somethings remain stubbornly unchanged and it is wearing me down.  I had a text conversation with him and I got to the bottom of what was bothering me and poof.  It's gone.  How does that happen?  How does the student become the teacher?  I'm not sure.....but what I am sure of is that I thank God every single day for blessing me with the honor of being his mother.  And I will treasure my relationship with him forever!  Love you stupid xoxoxoxo