A Mother-Son Moment

I had the most amazing thing happen to me this week. No, I didn't win the lottery or the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, though that would have been nice. It was even better than both of those things.

You see, when Alex and I were leaving soccer practice the other night and were walking to the car I instinctively reached my hand out for his. As a parent, my natural instinct is to grab for my kids' hands when cars are present. I fully expected him to bristle at the gesture, or pull his hand away. But you know what? He didn't. He grabbed hold of it...willingly...right there...in front of his teammates, the teams practicing after us and all their parents. Did I mention he's 9?

After the initial surprise I wondered if I should let go lest any of the boys see. After all, I'm painfully aware that Alex knows all too well what it feels like to be on the wrong side of a joke or teasing.

But I couldn't let go--his hand, growing ever bigger, tucked in mine. As we walked, Alex looked up at me, discussing practice, all the while tightly gripping my hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world for a nine-year-old boy to be doing.

I grabbed his hand tighter, knowing that moments like these may soon disappear. And so we walked, hand in hand, mom and son, for all to see.