Ever since his birth I have avoided looking forward, choosing instead to be grateful for each 'present' with Boy Wonder. The future was not our country, we had no business there. Today, on the occasion of Boy Wonder's seventh birthday we allowed ourselves the indulgence of a day-trip to the future. We fearlessly planned a party but not just any come-over-we're-having cake-event, this was a full-blown, bouncy-castle bonanza.
It was delivered shortly after noon, he had to stand on a chair to watch through the kitchen window as it inflated before his incredulous eyes. His sister swelled with pride, hardly daring to believe that this festive event was destined, at last, for her back garden. The call came from the other kidney minutes later, 'the guy says he needs two kids to test this yoke'. They were like bullets out of a gun, whizzing out the back door. The bouncing began to shrieks of laughter and whoops of delight; the facility being thoroughly tested and declared party-ready before the cousins arrived. The afternoon was dry and we settled around a garden table, which creaked under the weight of palette-tickling party food. Pots of tea punctuated the ease of the gathering, all relishing the now while acknowledging but not dwelling on the past.
This is, dare I say it, yet another milestone; his birthday has magically morphed from difficult memory to joyous celebration. He has asserted his seven-year-old self and demanded his own gifts, written his own guest list and dictated his own day. I had never let myself travel as far as to even imagine this day. To see him seemlessly, breathlessly and brazenly snatch it, has been one of the greatest thrills of my life. Long may you bounce my boy, long may you laze in the love of all around you, long may you and your sister make us feel like we have glimpsed into the future and been granted the world.
Cheers,
Ann
