Thursday, December 04, 2008

Numbers


His eyes were red and puffy and he appeared past bedtime.

"Ohhhh, come here," I said, pulling him into the chair.

He sank into my lap.

"I was just thinking about how I only have a few more hours left to be nine,"
he spoke into my shoulder.

"Ohhhh, shhhh, it's gonna be alright."

"But these 9 years went by so fast,
and now I'm going to be 10 and I just don't want to be."

I never knew a child who loves to be a child as much as this one.

He added,

"And I don't really know how many numbers I have left."

I thought about that.

I said,

"You are special, because you know how to enjoy the Now.
Most kids just can't wait to be older.
But you, you are living every minute with all you have.
It's going to be okay.

And I think you will have lots of numbers."

He sniffed, and nodded, and left my arms for bed.


I wonder...

Do I love my Now like that?

4 comments:

Michelle said...

This is one of the most beautiful posts EVER. Thank you for putting this out there. Happy Birthday to the boy.

Heidi Lee said...

Wow. James is really cool to think that way. I love that he said, "I don't know how many numbers I have left."

Wow.

Ms.Lo said...

Ohh, that's so sweet. He has such a way with words, too.

I thought my oldest was the only one who loved her childhood that much.

JJ said...

Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh. Did i really do that?