Marker for When a Boy Loves His Mother

To call my 19-year-old son a boy, is a misnomer. To call him a man is not quite accurate, not yet anyway. He is a near-man. He is 6 feet 3 inches. He weighs in at about 235 and his shoes are approximately 10 pounds of that, being a size 18 and roughly the size he was when he was born.

When he was little, he was a pistol. He was overly energetic, into everything and with a stubborn mind of his own. As an infant, he slept only five hours a night and never napped. He was this way till he was 14, then he seemed to switch his days for his nights. Now he has stopping growing, at least I hope so, and I actually see him in the daylight. I had gotten to where I pretty sure he was in that basement, sleeping in a coffin while wearing a long black cape.

He plays poker with his friends. He is a decent player and readily helps himself to the contents of their wallets. I don't play poker, but I have been handed the a book and told I "need" to learn to play, for his sake. I think he has readily helped himself to the contents of my wallet before and enough is enough now.

He asked if I would mind if he smoked cigars, outside of course. I said, he was old enough to decide on his own. He then pulls the package from his pocket and shows me his cigars. He pulls one out and it breaks....damn...he says, didn't even get to smoke it, and it broke. I told to him to break it in half and I would smoke with him. The look on his face was priceless. I shared his first cigar with him, as I shared his first steps and his first day of school and so many other firsts with this near-man. He is still a bit shocked by this.

I have to know all his business. I have to know all his friends' business. I have to know all his coworkers' business. I have to listen while he tells gossip about them all. I don't know these people, but I know alllll about them! I have this feeling that they know all about my business too....

When his coworkers asked him about his mom, he told them his mom is "askew", "akimbo" to life. He tells them that his mom is just not like any other. No, she never tells him what to do. She is just so supportive of all of his decisions and how this makes him feel like a man. He goes on to tell them that I am a little odd, very different, rather unique.

And then he tells them I am his best friend.