darkness and some leaves.

Dear Mason,

There was this night we got home at dark a while back. Who am I kidding?!  We get home at dark on most nights this time of year.  On this particular night,  my headlights drifted across the yard and were only on this tree for a few seconds.  As we unloaded the car and made our way to the house you asked if you could have some garbage bags.  I replied , "sure" without even really thinking about what you might need garbage bags for and continued into the house.

Your backpack was dropped quickly, you rushed to grab a handful of garbage sacks, and were out the door quickly.  So quickly that I almost forgot I had brought you home.

I'm not sure how much time passed, but it was quite a while.  Your dad came in and asked where you were, and I wasn't even sure what to tell him.  {probably not one of my finest 'mom' moments ... but who's counting?!}

We walked outside and found you here.

Raking and raking, and raking some more ... and then bagging pile after pile of leaves.

Your dad stood there - a bit dumbfounded at the fact you were expending so much energy on a task that the wind was certain to take care of tomorrow.  He even tried to talk you out of 'working,' but you wanted no part of 'quitting.'  You wanted to 'save' the leaves.

One corner of our garage now holds about 15 bags of leaves just waiting for the perfect time & day to pile them up to jump in.  Yes, you read that right!  You raked and bagged leaves to save for a 'fun' thing to do this winter when there weren't any leaves to jump in.  You're always thinking.  Always.

And son, as I watched you work so hard for something to have for later, I couldn't help but beam with pride.
There is so much about life today that desires instant gratification, and so much that doesn't want to put forth a lot of effort for something that may or may not happen in the future.  Thankfully, you don't settle for being like everyone else very often, and although it does surface every once in a while, more often than not, you're just willing to work for the sake of working.

I'm not sure what day the leaves will make their appearance outside of the bags, but you better believe I'll be there with my camera in hand - ready to capture you enjoying something you worked so very hard for!!

Thank you for being a worker and for not needing instant gratification all the time. I promise you that it will make your life so much more than ordinary.


In awe of who you are becoming,

Mom