Christian is 13 today, a ‘tweenager between childhood and adulthood. Where has the time gone? His feet are now almost as big as his father’s, and his height and weight are almost equal to mine. His academic abilities will soon outstrip mine. So little time, and yet so much, has passed since I first held my little “Cueball” and proclaimed him the most beautiful baby on earth. He truly was.
As a rite of passage, John took Christian out to breakfast and on a hike – a geocaching expedition to find a new Swiss army knife from John, complete with all the gadgets that a young man could ever hope to have. As time goes on, the desired gadgets will no doubt become bigger, more complex, and much more expensive.
I have already been surprised and mostly delighted by the early adolescent years, the ones that everyone says are filled with angst. Instead of becoming surly and mean, Christian has become, on the whole, more communicative and willing to show us further territory in his world. The view is quite nice, with only an occasional pothole in the landscape, but sometimes it is different than the sight I expected.
I’m glad Christian still enjoys building with Legos and playing video games. It makes him seem more like my son and more familiar than the stranger that sometimes appears in my son’s clothes. I’m already proud of him, but I wonder just who this amazing young man will grow into. I can’t wait to find out!