they grew up

allow me to set the stage for you . . .

i am standing in my hotel room
at the bar were the coffee machine, microwave and mini-fridge reside
the plug in at the desk doesn't work
it is very very late
i often write in my head as the day progresses
then i hit the key board and fine tune the message
but not tonight
this one is unfolding as i type

when our children are babies we hold them and look into their sweet pink faces and hope for the very best for them.  we can't help but wonder who they will be when they grow up.  we pray for them counting on our prayers to come true.

it is rare, or at least for me it is rare, to have the opportunity to see and hear of both of my children's character on the same day.  today was that day for me.

i had the honor and pleasure of attending the birthday party of my oldest son's girlfriend.  she is a delightful young lady whom i am fortunate enough to have a relationship separate from tel.  she invited me to celebrate with her very close knit family, childhood friends and her core group of friends today.  these were her people.  her very closest best people.  her i'm in trouble in the middle of the night and yet i could still call you people.  and right in the middle of all of them was tel.  and they love him.  he knows their names and pokes fun of them and they dish it right back.  i can not tell you how many people came up to me and complimented me on what a great young man he is. how he fits in.  how he is such a kind person who is the first to offer help.  aunts and uncles and cousins say he is the nicest person ever.  and girl friends from junior high and high school tell me what a gentleman he is. i could go on but i would not know where to stop - he is a great young man. 

cole spent the day hunting with a dear friend of mine who is in his late 70's.  the two of them have an unlikely friendship.  with the exception of an occasional conversation about work that needs to be done on the farm the two of them rarely talk to each other - unless there is a bird to hunt or a plan to be made to hunt that bird.  they have a mutual respect for each other but their paths do not intertwine regularly.  however they would both call each other friend.  in the midst of today's hunt the older gentleman's dog went to retrieve a bird in the middle of the pond.  it was a typical windy day in december and the dog, for whatever reason, became panic stricken and began to drown.  cole saw it go under and wasted no time going after it.  now mind you it was in the high 20's or low 30's as he waded into frigid, chest high water to save the drowning dog. i asked cole what his friend said to him after he saved the dog and replied quite simply, "thanks for saving my dog".  little fan fare was repeated but i am doubtful that more was not given.

both of my boys have grown into caring, responsible young men who often put the needs and feelings of others before their own.  as sappy as it may seem, as a parent there is hardly anything more wonderful than realizing your children have indeed grown up - and into the kind of people that we prayed they would as babies.  those boys make me so proud and i love them more than all of the times all of the parents in the entire world have looked into their baby's faces and hoped and prayed they would turn out good.  i know mine turned out incredible . . . and i am humbled.