Jack's special brand of cute

While  eating my early dinner at the bar, Jack was unloading the dishwasher and chatting in a way that didn’t seem quite directed to me alone, but more a releasing of his own imagination, a gushing out of his day. He’s the only one who still does this in our house, and I treasure a glimpse into his fantasy life. He and his friends come up with worst case scenarios at school which would cause them to make careful, calculated escapes, most often requiring a swiped weapon from the cafeteria. He reminds me he needs his phone because of the flashlight effect he can get from it if he is caught in the dark. He’s sure that he has at least a few super powers.

When he finished describing a theatrical escape route from a flooding school cafeteria he looked at me and said, “Mama, I need you to imagine if you had just one wish what would it be?” I said “Well, that’s easy for me. I want all the children in the world to have families that love them.” Jack said “That’s a really good one. I have good ones too like everyone should get an education and I want every person to have a home. But what if you could have a selfish wish what would that be?” (He has no idea how cute that is.) I answered him, “I would have a plane and pilot to take me and our family any where in the world any time we wanted to go.” He liked that because it included him. Then he told me his selfish wish: “I want to be driven around in a limousine every where I go.” I looked at him kind of strangely, and reminded him he is driven around every where. “But not in a limousine!” he reminded me.

An hour later as I was driving his little tail to tennis his phone rang. I watched the serious way he pulled it out and regarded it as if he might not answer it unless it was someone important. But it was Donny calling him so his face broke into a grin and he began to chat. I had the great privilege to eavesdrop on their conversation. They shared details about their week, both listening carefully to the other, and eager to share news. Jack was quick to remark that he too had alot of tests to study for the next day.

Before I sign off there’s one more cute Jack image from this week. One morning as I was scribbling in my prayer journal a few minutes after 5am I heard footsteps on the stairs. Then I saw a lanky boy in boxer briefs with his arms full of  fat cat. “Jack what’s wrong?” He answered me as he carried Coco to her favorite table across the house, “She was in my bed rubbing against me and purring in my ear, and pawing my blanket with her nails, but I still want my two hours of sleep.” So he deposited kitty and sprinted up to bed. But he was sitting next to me in a few minutes describing how soft her fur was against his skin. I am so happy he’s not the last one in the LaTorre house to bring such childhood cuteness to our lives. I’m not ready to let these times slip out of my fingers yet. I don’t have to clench onto Jack any more because Kira is going to offer us all her own brand of special cute. I am ready.

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