I remember the moment vividly. I woke up at one a.m. and heard the squeaking of your footsteps upstairs. At that moment, an unspeakable sadness overcame me. A newborn thought that stole my happiness and my sleep.
What was it?
The thought that one day in the not-so-distant future, those squeaks would be gone.
One day there’d be no more “rap concerts” going on in your room, no more fighting for the shower with your sister, no more cups and plates and half-eaten cheeseburgers stacked three feet high in the trash can you last emptied six months ago.
And now the time has come.
Only two weeks and the squeaking will stop. The constant noise coming from your video games will be gone. The three loads of laundry you never brought down to be washed will be replaced with an empty closet.
And just thinking about it makes the waterworks start.
I ponder playing realtor, trying to sell you on the home you’ve lived in for twenty-one years. I imagine what words I’d say in hopes of keeping you here.
First, I’d tell you some very famous people had lived here, and they’d all loved it. Tigger. The Power Rangers. Superman and his heroic friends. I’d tell you Kanye and Post Malone have even slept in the very room you now inhabit. I’d also add that these people were so happy some didn’t leave for years.
I’d tell you the place is rent-free.
I’d tell you that it’s perfectly okay your room is trashed. I’d tell you the garbage actually gives the room character. I’d tell you there’s a live-in maid who will do your laundry, pick your dirty towels off the bathroom floor, and ensure the Frosted Flakes you love are always in the cabinet.
I’d tell you all these things and more. Much, much more.
It would be wrong though, so I’ll shove my greatest desire in the whole world into the back of my mouth. Then, I’ll swallow. And that swallowing?
It will be the hardest thing I ever do.
But I’ll do it.
Because I love you.
Because the future is calling. Because you deserve to walk your own path. Because you deserve the right to fly.
So go, my baby boy.
Go.
Show the world what you’ve got.
It’ll take a lot of time because you’re a masterpiece.
So you better get started now.
…
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Photo credit: Dawn Bevier (author).
