Lil Man

“I think you’re pretty.”

How did that little sentence, that probably held little merit to him, make my heart swell. A declaration from my 14 year old son, and virtually out of no where. Lately I’ve only caught glimpses of the baby I used to chase around the house wanting nothing to do with wearing clothes. Now I see this man strolling around with a timbering voice and freshly shaven face, despite the fact that 3 chin hairs hardly warrant a shave, he does it diligently. Being the quiet one growing up with two vivacious, loud and oh-so dramatic women groomed him to be the ‘observer’. He is a people watcher to say the least. Keeping to himself he gauges a situation and then takes action. Now by no means is he without error but boy how he shines on a daily basis. Not many days go by where adults in our community don’t ask about him or praise him, from coaches to teachers to friends’ parents. He is in the middle of athletic seasons right now - a 3 month break between football and basketball and you would think Dr. Frankenstein replaced him with a robot just going through the motions waiting for life to get back on track. He is most definitely a creature of habit so 2 practices a day for him are more comfortable than nothing to do. When Anthony and I decided to take the huge step and move in together we were both a little worried how the youngest of our gang would handle it – and true to form my ‘spectator’ assessed the situation and moved forward without hesitation. He committed to being a part of something and gave heart and soul to success of our family, and although certain aspects of it didn’t turn out the way I had hoped I believe the 4 of us are stronger and inseparable. Anthony gives him the things I couldn’t, the things he needs to be healthy and strong. I taught myself everything about baseball so that when he talked I understood and gave feed back, I cant even begin to tell you the hours of Sports Center I sat through in order to know the difference between a grand slam and a sacrificed bunter. When I see Anthony and Triston talk about football and fine tune my sons natural skill – I cant help but think “where the hell were you during baseball season the last 6 years?!”

I must say Triston was only one of a couple kids on his competitive baseball team with just a mom cheering in the stands, travelling all over the state even across the U.S. for the Youth Baseball Induction into the Hall of Fame. But you’d never get a sense of loss from him. He has always been proud to have the loudest, most devoted cheerleader in the bleachers. Stepping aside has been a little tough for me, seeing Anthony down on the sidelines during the big games is a double edged sword, part of me doesn’t feel needed anymore but another part, the bigger part, is swimming in pride that my two most favorite men came together like they had always meant to be that way. So I remain in the stands, not quiet by any means, and glow with contentment on how things continually turn out. I know Triston is about to take us on the ride of our lives in all the things he will accomplish – Im just so very thankful I played a key part in the making of the man that just non-chalantly mentioned “I think you’re pretty”