Boys to Men

I remember the first thing I noticed when my sons began to change from boys into men ... their necks. Yep, I know that sounds weird, but it was almost like they went to bed one night with chubby little boy necks and woke up the next morning with thinner grown-up man necks with protruding Adam's apples. It wasn't long after their necks thinned that their voices began to deepen, whiskers started to appear on their chins and they grew taller and slimmer. Meghann, of course, went through growing pains and changes as well, but the physical changes that took place in my sons were so much more outwardly noticeable and drastic. I remember having such mixed emotions as I watched my children grow into young adults ... being so thankful that they were healthy and happy and becoming the wonderful people they are today, but also a bit sad that the days of their childhoods were slipping away at what felt at the time like lightning speed.

On Monday evening, I wrote about my time chatting with Christian as Ollie and I rested on the bench by the side of the trail and how much Christian had grown up since I saw him last summer. I also wrote about how he touched my heart when he told me he had prayed for me every day since the day we spoke after J.R. passed away. Last night, I took Ollie for another short walk because I still don't feel too great from the new medication. I've written before about how Ollie and I play a game each time we cross the two wooden bridges that sit over the creek that runs back and forth along the trail ... the running, chasing, barking, hopping game I played once with him a really long time ago that my crazy little wiener dog has never forgotten. Ollie doesn't like it when other people are on his bridge, so we generally wait our turn if someone else is crossing when we arrive at his own personal wooden playground. But last night, Ollie encountered something he never had before ... not only was someone on his bridge, the someone was walking on the top rail of the bridge as if he were an Olympic gymnast. Ollie and I both stopped in our tracks and watched the young man as he walked, turned, jumped, balanced and eventually made his way to the end of the rail and jumped down.

He was wearing camo pants and a black t-shirt, and as Ollie and I got closer to him, he squatted down and extended his hand to let Ollie check him out and said with a huge smile on his face as he looked up at me, "How are you tonight, maam?"

"I'm fine," I said as he patted Ollie on the top of his head. "That was pretty awesome what you were doing on the rail there ... are you a gymnast?"

"No maam," the young man replied politely. "I'm in ROTC and the drills and exercises help with balance. I'm training to hopefully enter the Ranger program; my father is a Ranger."

Much like the night before as I listened to Christian talk about his plans for the future, I listened once again to a tall, strong young man as he spoke about what he hoped to do with his life. But it was as he spoke about honor, integrity and depth of character that my eyes grew misty, and all I could do was nod as I listened to him. When I was finally able to speak, I told him that Ollie and I needed to be heading home and that it was nice to meet him. He extended his hand to shake mine, and I was immediately aware of the strength within his grip. He held our handshake as he asked my name and told me his, and then he looked deeply into my eyes and said, "You won't always be so sad, Terrie ... you are stronger than you know." I cried all the way home after I said goodbye to Cameron and wondered how the young man could have possibly known how much I needed to hear his words last night.

It's no accident that three is such an important number when it comes to spiritual things ... think the Trinity, three days in the tomb ... the number three carries with it some deep, significant meaning in the Bible. So it probably shouldn't have surprised me today when one of the young men I worked with stopped me as I was leaving the kitchen and said, "Hey, Terrie, you've been frowning too much lately ... I miss your smile. What's wrong? You OK?" We walked back into the kitchen together and talked for a little while about life and ... well ... we just talked about stuff. And as I listened to him talk about support and unconditional love and understanding and acceptance, I couldn't help but think about how much he means to me ... how much I respect him ... how kind and gentle his heart is ... how proud his parents must be of the young man who is their son. And as I walked back to my desk after our chat, I knew that it was no accident that my young friend said what he did today.

Christian ... Cameron ... Danny ... three young men on three consecutive days ... three young men with a message for this old gal ... three young men who once were little boys and who now are men ... men of true honor ... men of strong integrity ... men of deep character. Thanks for touching my heart, gentlemen ... you blessed me ... you surely did.