Monkey turned eleven today.
There are so many things I could say about our Monkey. Above all, though, I’d have to say that I am proud that he is my son.
When I look at his face, I can see the fine man that he will be one day, but I can still see inquisitive toddler that he was (once when he was two years old he came into the living room hours after being put to bed and asked, “Mommy.. I know milk comes out of a cow, but how does it get IN the cow..?”). He fills our lives and hearts with joy and pride. He is brilliant beyond words… but more importantly, he has a heart bigger than any I have ever known.
The principal at the school that Monkey attended for five years recently mailed him a letter. In it, she encouraged him to do well in his new school. She also said that counts him among a few students that she will always remember with true respect because they possess caring and the ability to think of others before themselves. No straight-A report card could ever top knowing that other people recognize in Monkey what we have seen in him since before he was able to walk or talk.
For his birthday, he asked for was a new CD clock radio and a Simpsons sketch book. As soon as he opened the book (and the sketch pad and pencils that Froggie gave him), he started drawing Simpsons characters.
He was elated when my mother came over in the afternoon. She gave him something that he’s wanted since… well, since before it existed. (To back-pedal: Monkey is a born geek. That’s not an insult in our home. He flies his geek flag proudly. Since before the age of two, he has loved robots. At two years old, he saw a commercial for RAD robot, and fell in love. He studied the commercial, and knew all of the robots capabilities. He wanted it desperately. [The $100 price tag was more than we could afford back then, though. Especially for a two year old.] At Christmas time, a WalMart cashier asked him, “What do you want for Christmas, baby?” She seemed shocked at his detailed, well-spoken answer: “I just want a robot. It’s called RAD robot. It can clean your room and bring you a Coke.”) Since then, he’s owned several robots. A few brought by Santa, and several given to him by my mom, who loves feeding his robot habit. Today, she arrived with a cylindrical package, and I know that he knew what it was. His eyes were too sparkly to not know. And there it was: an R2D2 robot that reponds to voice command.
Since the package was opened, R2 has danced in my living room. He’s repeated Leia’s plea to ObiWan in my kitchen. He’s carried a bottle of hotsauce from one end of the room to the other. And he’s “patrolled the area” in our entry way and hall. When he was two, it seemed as if Monkey thought robots were a mix of metal and magic. Now, with some understanding of electronics, he still looks at them with such awe and wonder… maybe now he thinks they’re a mix of metal, wire, programming, chips… and magic.
Eleven. My God. He’ll be a man before we know it. And before I’m ready. I am so very happy that this wonderful human is part of my life. He truly is a gift to the world, and I am honored to know him and to call him my child.
