To My Son

I cannot brag on my daughter, without bragging on my son.

Back in January, I wrote the following poem that pretty much sums up his character:

You are almost fifteen,
And mature beyond your years
Though still very young
Your golden character appears.

A gift we received a few years ago
I was going to share a little part,
But you said, "They need it more, give all!"
It was Christmas time and finances were not the greatest; someone gave us an envelope with $300.00. They wanted to make our Christmas a good one. At that same time, we heard of a family who was worse off than we were (at least we always had food, clothing, and shelter). He recognized their needs were greater than ours and made the suggestion to give them the whole thing. I could not do anything else but to follow his lead.

Then two years passed,
And you joined the cross country team,
When in a race your classmate fell, you stopped to help,
With no thought of your dream.
He was a good runner, but never really made a great time during competitions. That was to be the last race of the year and his dream was to beat his best time. Even though he stopped, he was still able to achieve his dream.

Another time you wisely spoke
When you told me that my bitter words
Would not change the past but only guilt bestow.
On this occasion, I had come home from work to prepare and serve lunch for some friends. They showed up about 50 minutes later than the scheduled time (and they did not call either to let me know) and I had to go back to work. I really wanted to blast them off but his words made sense. So, I just left him in charge of everything and went back to work.

So it is to you my son
That this poem with love I write
You are the shining example
On how to live right.

Since then, my son has turned fifteen, but his golden heart has not changed. He still is the amazing young man he has been through these years.

Yesterday, we were supposed to go and be part of the Day of Service. We did not go because I was not feeling well, but that did not stop him from serving in his own way: our neighbor's yard needed cutting and he just took our lawnmower and mowed both front and back.

I am so very proud of him!