Attila and I took our son Declan out to dinner on Thursday night. Okay, he ended up commandeering the check, so I guess that technically means he took us to dinner, but it was our idea! We had specifically made the date with him because we realized that it has been way too long since we have been alone with him for a focused two-on-one conversation.
I guess it is different with daughters. Our four daughters talk to us all the time (sometimes against our will). But sons? Not so much. You sort of have to hunt them down and corner them.
Wednesday night Family Dinner is great, awesome and fabulous, but it is not the most conducive environment for intimate conversations. Picture the Walton family on LSD. Our family is loud and full of cross-talkers with Attention Deficit Disorder. We have had a few visitors join us for one Wednesday night, never to be seen from again.
Declan is an amazing young man. One evening when he was only nine-years-old, he appeared at the side of my recliner, tears streaming down his face. He had been trying to sleep and couldn’t stop thinking about Attila or me dying. He proceeded to inform me that he “used to” wish away his life so that he could get past the boring parts. He suddenly realized that he didn’t want his life to rush by like that. He wanted to experience all of it! Our little philosopher was just beginning to come into his own.
In the middle of 11th grade Declan decided that he was finished with high school. He wanted to go to college and not “waste” another year. All he needed to graduate were six English credits, but Coatesville was unable to accommodate that.
So we took my sister Kathi’s suggestion, and I home-schooled him for his second semester of 11th grade. Declan graduated with his high school diploma that July, and entered Eastern University in the fall of what would have been his senior year. Declan ultimately made a switch to the Art Institute of York and graduated with an Associate’s degree in Digital Arts.
When Declan was 19 he proposed to Katie, the love of his life. They had been dating (and best friends) since he was 15. They were married on August 4, 2007 when he was just twenty-years-old. A year later they moved into a brand new home and added a puppy to their family.
Now, at the ripe old age of 22, this fast-tracked kid of ours (who frequently reminds me of myself) is the manager of the Embroidery Department at the Firestore and supervises a group of adults who are many years his senior.
Declan continues to adore his wife Katie, and she him. Katie teaches art at the Octorara Elementary School and is working on her Master’s Degree. They joyfully await the birth of their first child in May.
Since further education is not currently financially feasible for Declan, he purchases massive tomes on web application design, and painstakingly pores over them until he learns each concept. Some day he will be designing custom web applications for his own roster of clients.
This hard-working man is the same little boy who once called me on our home phone with his cell phone (from his bedroom) because he was too lazy to walk the thirty feet to get to me in my home office. This young man, who once was too lazy to take out the trash and would procrastinate for h o u r s, works ten-hour days without complaint or flagging spirit. This wonderful son, who as a child was afraid that life would pass him by if he wished away the boring parts, has created a life where there are no boring parts.
Declan, our beautiful son, we are very, very proud of you, and love you more than you know.
