Bruder

Just days after returning home from China, our oldest turned seventeen. He was born right before we started dental school, a six pound eleven ounce blue-faced limp baby. When the doctor laid him on my stomach, I thought we'd lost him. His heart rate had dropped so quickly and it was an urgent and scary delivery. As he lay there, lifeless, the doctor rubbed him and said, "Come on, little guy. Come on." Our baby let out a scream, turned pink, and the rest of us could finally breathe as well.

I shouldn't have been surprised that he turned into a runner. He actually ran before he walked. He was 15 months old and couldn't even stand without holding onto something. Then one day, without warning, he let go of the couch and high-tailed it over to a chair, which he grabbed like a swimmer snagging a life buoy. He could only remain upright if he sprinted and he had checkpoints all over the house. He could make it from fridge to table, table to love seat, love seat to TV, sprinting all the way. It was days before he could slow to a jog, and then a walk, and finally he could stand.

This past weekend, his distance medley team won at a large invitational. He runs the half mile and his PR this season is 2:09, qualifying him for the district tournament. Lyle picked him up from the meet and hurried him home to shower and clean up for......

PROM!

I love that his date's mom sent me these photos.

I love that my son allowed me to contact his date's mom to ask for said photos.

Not all teenaged boys would be so willing.

Bruder, nicknamed when Cholita mispronounced "brother", is truly the ultimate big Bruder for his siblings. He's such a great example to them. The morning after prom, he gave a wonderful talk in church. He gets up early every morning to drive himself to seminary. He asks what he can do to help. He even cleans his room for goodness sake.

I was at a park near a high school a couple of weeks ago and when the bell rang, several young men Bruder's age wandered over to the swings. This was XiXi's first trip to a local park and when these high schoolers began talking, I could not believe the constant stream of profanity leaving their mouths. Leaving their mouths with full knowledge that little children were right next to them. I almost said something but I knew from their behavior that they would respond with something ugly and I didn't want my kids to see that either. But as I walked away, I thought with such gratitude, "My son would never do that."

If I could go back through time and give my young mother self some advice it would be, "Just enjoy him." All the worries I had for my first-born were totally unfounded. He's a wonderful young man and we're so blessed to be his parents.