Monday, November 13, 2006

Fly Boy

Brian is on the west coast presenting at a conference. Ben and I are flying solo for four days.

Appropriately enough, it's been raining since Brian left. Ben misses him terribly and carries his dad's baseball mitt around with him as soon as he gets home. He sleeps with it wrapped up in his blanky.

This evening, after dinner, we walked Saki around Tompkins Square Park. We ended up on the black top where there's a baseball diamond painted on the ground along with painted bases. Ben is obsessed with baseball and the Red Sox. He expects that his future will include a few years in the major leagues before he starts his train company.

Ben is tall and big for his age. He's a slow runner and frequently trips over his feet. He plays kickball at recess where he's usually the last one chosen and the last one to up to kick.

As the rain came down he asked that I watch him run around the bases as fast as he could. He was doing everything he could to go fast. Without realizing it, he lifted his arms up like Superman in the hopes of picking up speed.

So I stood there with my dog. Watching my son running bases in the pouring rain with his arms outstretched. Each stumbling step was filled with hope and determination. Just a few minutes more and he'd take flight.

Ben. My greatest teacher and my greatest blessing.

7 comments:

jin said...

Oh, ok...a very little known secret about yours truly: as a kid I wore braces on my legs because of running & tripping myself CONSTANTLY. I was always scraped & cut on my knees & hands. Naturally I was the last one picked for EVERYTHING sports in grade school. UGH.

Well...look at me now! I can dance through torrents of people gracefully carrying an 80 pound wedding cake without blinking to plant it safely on its display table.

Makes me think your son will be one AWESOME Major League player! ;-)

p.s. NO selling this story of mine to any gossip publications either. I swear I'll deny ALL of it! LOL!!! :-D

jin said...

p.p.s. You are the COOLEST Mom! :-D

east village idiot said...

Jin - If I have a son that grows up to be like you - I will be a very proud and lucky mother indeed. Thank you for sharing your story about the leg braces. It's funny what we go through and how we end up.

Anonymous said...

Sleeping with his dad's baseball mitt....

That is just the sweetest thing!

Often your posts give me the urge to grab one of my grown-up sons and hug him close. Unfortunately, the only one living close enough to hug at the moment is the one who moved back in when he lost his job. ....A situation that doesn't make for many hugs....

I lie. He just got a job and is working quite hard to dig himself out of the hole he fell into when he had no work. I do still hug him -- when he'll let me.

Kranki said...

That is like the best visual picture ever.

Dr. Deb said...

Just dropping by to wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

~Deb

Milliner's Dream, a woman of many "hats"... said...

The manboys have always been my best teachers, too...