HE'S FULLY LAUNCHED

The other day I was at my desk at work and my son, Sean, called. Sean is my oldest, the one that I like to think is “fully launched.” He graduated from college, he has a great job and he’s living in an apartment with his friends. Sean is one of my favorite people on the planet, he’s super funny and smart and a great, (although perhaps overly) protective big-brother. I have told him that when I was growing up all I really every felt I lacked was a big brother – my kids are lucky, they have him.

Sean and I have had our ups and downs – raising a boy born in the 90s can be trying on the soul. There is so much available to them, so much that we learn about right as it hits us – the power of language, although mine is just as foul as his; the abyss of internet – its power and glory and its dangers; the smartphone aka remote control for the teenager’s life – ps: I am glad I didn’t have one growing up. Then there’s the girls and the weekends and the license and the cars. He pushed me to the edge of my limits and then over the edge and then further. But we survived, he did and I did. And we had lots of moments of thriving within all that surviving.

Back to the other day. He called and asked if I was busy, could I come downstairs, he wanted to talk to me. He’d meet me outside my building. I have to admit, I got on the elevator with some trepidation wondering what he might want to tell me but I got on and went down and saw him. There he was, standing there, holding a bouquet of hydrangeas. For me.

I got and gave a huge hug and then shouted at him that he had panicked me a little… middle of the day phone calls at work haven’t always been good tidings from home. “I just wanted to give you these and tell you that you’re an awesome Mom.” Then he introduced me to a friend he’d had lunch with and said. “And, she told me there were free flowers at Roche Bros and I thought – I have to go get some for my Mom.” Okay, you’ll remember that one of the things that I love about him is his sense of humor! SO WHAT if they were free. He made my day, and everyone else’s who asked about the flowers on my desk. And as I looked at those flowers I realized that he is indeed fully launched.