The Face of a Boy

I do not want to turn this into an emotional post, but I have spent a lot of time in the past two days just staring at my children, reflecting on how fragile life is and how important strong familial relationships are.  At age 3, Jack is the baby in the family, which is nothing to sneeze at when your oldest brother is 21.  He's spoiled rotten and a hot mess.  He is also "all boy".  He's rough, likes to wrestle, play in the dirt and he will eat anything he can scrape off Walmart's parking lot when I'm not looking.  He keeps his hands in his pants a good portion of the day, picks his nose with gusto and I've never found a random booger anywhere so that probably gives you an idea of how he disposes of them.  He makes Justice cry at least once a day with either something mean he's said ("you're not my favorite brother anymore" is his current favorite kick in the gut to Justice), and if that does not bring Justice to his knees, a swift kick in Justice's man-parts will certainly finish the job.

This morning I was just holding him, staring at this little ball of fire with the reddish-brown afro and matching eyebrows, and I got a really good look at his head.  Wow, I thought... this boy's head is a mess!  I choked back the tears that were slowly creeping in, and laughed.  It was a sweet reprieve from the sadness I've been feeling, and I knew I needed to take the time to take a few pictures before all of his battle wounds healed.

I love these beautiful dark brown eyes.  The long curly eyelashes and  look at those eyebrows!  If you know Joe, you know where those tragically unruly brows came from.  When Jack gets mad, those brows turn fire-engine red.   I see freckles just starting to make their appearance, and I wonder if he will be a complete freckle face like Justice.  I see a scar next to his left eye, from falling on Christmas morning when he tripped in the driveway right after church.

On his right temple, the patch of skin that's much lighter than the rest of his head is a patch of ringworm that's finally healing.  Yes, ringworm.  No need to panic, he's being treated and it's healing just fine.  He has a matching patch on the other temple, too.  I jokingly tell Joe that I think his horns are just coming in.  I also see a deep scar right in the middle of his forehead from last football season when he fell and cut his head open on a training sled.

In the next picture, his ringworm really shines... but let's focus on his right cheek.  That's a nice bruise you got there, Jack.  Justice got a new bike for his birthday, and doesn't really ride very well yet.  He has been practicing in the alley behind the house, and Jack likes to run next to him like a junkyard dog while he's practicing.  Monday afternoon the junkyard dog decided to cut in front of Justice's bike and the novice bike rider couldn't stop quickly enough and ran clean over the top of him.  Jack didn't cry, but wow was he mad at Justice for not being able to stop in time!

In the next picture, once I get past the eyes that say "I'm extremely tired of you taking my picture, and my patience is nearly up", I see my favorite and most often worn injury in the Mack house.  The fat lip.  As if the bruised cheek, double whammy of ringworm, and random scars weren't enough, he ran smack into the hall table last night and busted his lip open.  It was a good one, too.  The kind where one of your bottom teeth goes through your lip.

But mostly what I see when I look at pictures of Jack is his mischievous grin, loaded with the goldfish crackers that I told him he couldn't have.  I didn't even notice the smuggled crackers until I uploaded the picture.    

I love you Jack, more than you could imagine.  Every single bump, scar, bruise and fungal infection is a testimony of your love for life.  I am so blessed and thankful to be able to be home with you to enjoy every single second of you when you are little.  You are an amazing little guy, and you keep us on our toes and constantly entertained.  We love you Jack, exactly the way you are.  

I promise you my sweet boy, that I will always be here for you, no matter what life brings. There is nothing more important to me than the relationship that I have with you and your brothers and sisters. You will always be able to count on me, and I will love you eternally.