aloha, eleven!

Dear Tucker,
You were born a surprise.
Of boys, I knew not much.
In my arms, eight pounds of wonder, eyes trusting, I felt like maybe you'd help me figure it out.

We passed you around like a flask of whiskey, drunk on the smell of your scalp and the perfection of your every small finger and toe. With you came the proverbial light of a clear blue morning.

I can hardly remember a time when you were not here.
You are in your second decade now, successful in your own ways, and supportive of others in theirs.
Eleven seems to possess the dreams of a child pressed up against the potential of an adult. A whole humming world churns inside you. You are more than a spindly middle-schooler with a soaring mind. I love watching you do the magic trick of figuring out exactly who you are meant to be.
I marvel at how easily you're able to turn little black dots into beautiful music.
I admire your ability to write and to draw, and am regularly amazed at your original Dungeon adventures and cartoon detail.
I don't know as much about geography as you do, but I think if I poured all the love I had for you into the Mississippi the river would rise and flood the country.

Your whole life stretches before you, a path of imprecise but multiple directions. You could be an astronaut or an accountant, a musician or a medical researcher. You could be happy.

You make the rest of us irrationally happy just by hanging around.
I love you to the moon and back. After that, as you know, all bets are off ;)
-Mom