Ben Is Growing Up
I never thought it would happen. Either death by parent (me), getting lost, being held back in school or lord knows what crazy shit could happen, I never believed Ben would grow up. The joke for years between Sam and I was that Sam better make a decent living so he could support his brother because Ben couldn't live with me forever. I have never been so happy to be so very wrong. The summer leading into his senior year, he had no desire to discuss college and I had no interest in nagging him endlessly to make it happen. I couldn't want it more than him. Oh, he took his SATs and scored the national average but he didn't want to take them again, nor did he want to write a college entrance essay. In October, we had decided he would go to Hudson Valley Community College and live at home. And by the end of soccer season he had been in contact with the soccer coach and I was no longer worried. I knew what his future looked like. He would slowly find his way. ...