When I wonder

The boy is gone. Or shall I say, the boy-man is gone. It's really quiet, tidy, clean, and quietly quiet ...did I mention how quiet it is?

When I wonder how the boy-man is handling all the emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual challenges of his new world, I am able to recall a memory that reminds me he has a life experience base that will help him figure alot of things out.

The memory that came to mind today when I found myself "wondering" was when he and I sat together in the living room of yet another Beirut home when he was only 12. The man of the home had his commando camo clothes on and was trying to have a conversation with Greyson all to himself. (The first beheading of that time was being shown over and over on the television set in the same living room we sat in) We will call the man of the house the "commandoman" for the purposes of this blog.

The commandoman was trying to get Greyson to hold a clear juice glass filled with boiling tea as tight and long as he could. Greyson, smiling and trying valiantly to play along, would hold that boiling tea as long as he could. (I had one eye on the woman of the house yelling at me about something and one eye glued on my boy and the commandoman). After about a dozen attempts to building up Greyson's endurance, Greyson was glancing over at me mumbling in english, and the commandoman was laughing, hollering, and jeering with arabic and broken english. Eventually, Greyson managed to satisfy commandoman's exploits, charmingly took the challenge and maneuvered himself quite well.

I hadn't thought of that memory in a long time. It helped me as my mama heart found itself wondering today. I think the commandoman moment is one little deposit in the life experience bank that may serve him well in some difficult moments that come. After all, it's not just about the boiling tea in a juice glass on the bare hand at the age of 12 with a beheading in the background; it's the willingness and wherewithall to roll with it, take some ego blows, and walk away with your chin up...not in a sinful pride way, but in a inner personal dignity kind of way. Sorta the kind of stuff you need when faced with so much newness in such a short amount of time, having not had the chance to fully predict and calculate ahead of time.

Stay tuned for future "When I Wonder " posts on the life of the empty nest from which baby birds fly far from.