so last night was an awesome night that i want to share with you. we got a call yesterday morning that some friends of ours (the wilps) were going to see the little mermaid on broadway and had extra tickets and would like us to come. as it turned out, we knew there was no way caedmon could go into the city all day and sit in a theater for so long, so we decided that just jackson and i would go. i'm am so grateful that they invited us and so glad that we accepted because it was an awesome day!
we left town around 2:30, picked up their daughter, andrea, at her school and then drove to weehawken to pick up the ferry. jack loved the ferry, as he always seems to love all forms of transportation. he kept looking at all the boats on the river and saying, "after i'm done on this boat, i'm riding that boat!"
we got over to the city, and took a bus to times square. now this is jack's first time in the city in about a year, so i was concerned that he might be a little overwhelmed by times square: all the people, lights, sounds, commotion, etc. but i was so wrong. he loved it. we got off the bus and he was holding my hand as we began to traverse the busy sidewalks. he was quite simply overjoyed. he was not so much walking as jumping in the air with every step. pointing at everything and smiling as wide as he could. he pointed to the nasdaq stuff and said with great excitement, "look at all those words, daddy!" he wouldn't stop smiling. and i couldn't stop looking at him. i want to live that wide-eyed wonder all the time, you know?
anyway, we ate dinner at the olive garden in times square. jack had spaghetti. i had fetuccini. he peed in the potty. twice. then we walked down to the toys-r-us store where the wilps wanted to buy him some toys, so he got a remote control t-rex and a couple other things. he got to ride the ferris wheel in the toys-r-us store. he just loved the store. you would have thought he was in heaven.
after that we went to the theater to see the show. once again i was amazed at just how well-behaved he was. he watched the show carefully, making comments along the way like "i don't like that sea-witch." he sat on his booster seat and didn't move. even during intermission, he just wanted the show to "come back on."
the show was really good. i mean, disney knows what they are doing, right? i wasn't as impressed with all the costuming and stuff as i thought i might be, but i loved the music. it was a really fun to see it, and especially to see it with my son who loved it.
after the show we walked in the rain for awhile back to the ferry station, and we all got soaking wet. jack was shivering and soaked clear through, but didn't complain. he was just singing as we walked, "rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain...." we took the ferry back to jersey, hopped in the wilp's van and headed back for home. we didn't get home until 1 am. jack was still wide awake and still in a really good mood. i couldn't believe it! he was such a joy to me. i just wanted to pick him up and squeeze him so tight and say something more than words can say. i wanted him to know that i love him more than i can tell him for reasons more than i can understand. i wanted him to know that he brings to life the child inside me, the wonder latent in me, the hope i long to cling to. i want him to know that he is life to me. and that i was so proud of him. he never complained. he had no accidents, if you know what i mean. he only cried once, and that was when we left the theater, because he wanted the show to go on. i told him we were going to go ride the boat, and that calmed him down immediately.
i am exhausted today, but, as you can tell, i am bursting with pride and joy. there are difficult moments to this parenting thing, as i have shared on these pages. but there are also moments that are just about unspeakably joyful. yesterday was one of them.
thank you, wilps, for inviting us and being so generous.
thank you, jack, for being such a good boy and reminding me of all that's good.
thank you, jesus, for giving us these blessings.
greg.
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