A year ago last summer I blogged about how after almost three years of being my son, Ricardo gave me my first kiss. Now, 18 months later, I'm finding myself completely taken by the young man he is becoming.
Because of his introverted personality and his slow language acquisition, it has taken him a while to blossom. He is an excellent athlete, so he keeps us hopping with those activities, but his personality has emerged very slowly.
Lately he is perfecting his gift of sarcasm and it's wonderful. For example, yesterday I was working on the calendars and Mercedes and Ricardo walked in and saw a picture that was clearly of Kyle on my computer desktop.
"Who is that?", Mercedes asked.
"George Bush," I responded.
"Wow, he looks just like our brother!" Ricardo said in mocked surprise.
He also has surprised me in many ways with the character he has. For example, before Thanksgiving at youth group a couple of the guys decided to sign a pledge that they wouldn't watch TV until New Year's Day. Ricardo LOVES TV and always has. But without telling either Bart or myself, he signed that pledge. And he just quietly stopped watching TV. It took me a week to notice, but when I brought it up he told me about it. I'm just amazed. Tony signed it too. Lasted less than a day for him. ;-)
Ricardo is also a talented artist who draws beautifully, and he's just a joy to have around.
When he smiles at me, I know I'm in love..... and I know it isn't supposed to happen this way -- People are supposed to fall in love with a small baby in their arms..... not with a 15 year old. But it has had to be in his timing -- in order for it to be reciprocal. I claimed him the day I set eyes on him when he was 7. He became my son legally when he was 11. He gave me my first kiss on the cheek at 13, and we are finally bonding at 15.
But it's working for HIM, and that's what matters.
1 comment:
Fifteen year old boys are THE BEST. You know, assuming they don't have FASD or something. Now that came out wrong. I don't mean to dis kids who are suffering from a disability. I mean ... oh I think you know what I mean.
I don't know why so many people are nervous about caring for teen boys. By that time their personalities have settled. You can be pretty confident about whether their needs fit your skills, and they are just really cool.
Post a Comment