ACT, Boys State, College applications, spring football, don't give up now.

I took our son to dinner last night, at Applebee's, his choice. He put me out at the door with my hopalong knee. We made small talk waiting for our table. He always talks low, deliberately. I talk fast. With the lasting impression of the funeral I attended yesterday, I felt the pull to reconnect with this oldest child of ours. I felt the need to sit with him awhile, listen, be quiet, respond, just simply to be with him. Boys need so many things just like our girls do and yet, we or rather I, might have forgotten, to make time for this, to make a definite decision to be with him. As the conversation starts out slow, I wait. Many times I probe too much. Many times I try to ask too much. Tonight I was going to be different. As we waited for our food, the nourishment I was waiting for arrived, but not on a platter. It came from his heart. The heart of this young man he has grown to be. Few, simple descriptive words regarding his life as it is right now. Expectations of spring football, his knee gets sore after running, his neck is sore from weight lifting, the many essays he is writing in AP English, how the different social groups are formed in school, drinking and non-drinking, popular, left-out, school lunches, his narrowed down choices for school. He enjoys his ribs and eat my steak. He asks why we are eating out this night and tell him I just wanted to spend alittle time with him. Three more weeks of school left and then he will be a senior. His college application needs to be completed by October of this year. With Boys State around the corner, summer football, and everything else, we both know it is going to be a fast and busy year. I am always in a hurry, my son is the same steady pace no matter what, never flustered. The waiter apologizes for how long it took for our food to arrive and tell him it is fine. Infact, I never looked at the clock, time seemed unimportant. He finishes his ribs and proclaims he is full, I ate only half of mine. I really wasn't hungry for food, rather, I was hungry for some mother soul food. No resturant can make that. It is a special recipe.