The Call

I am blindsided sometimes by the sheer awesome power of the love I feel for my children, by my wonder at their evolution as human beings.

My son is majoring in kinesiology and exercise science. He is particularly enamored of anatomy and physiology and the musculoskeletal system. This interest happens to coincide with his mother's knee problem. Last night he dug out his textbook and gave me a mini lesson on the knees, asked me very intent and focused questions, and performed a couple of diagnostic movements to see if he could discern what seemed to be wrong. He mused on the possibilities, the leading one being a PCL tear, and he insisted that I get this checked out as soon as possible, this week, he said, so he could come with me to the orthopedic doctor before he goes back to college.

His concern and manner made me feel so cared about, and of all the people who have urged me to go get my knee looked at, he was the one that managed to get me to the phone. He instructed me to call as soon as I got to work this morning, then called me at noon to ask whether I'd yet made the appointment. I hadn't. "Do it as soon as we put down the phone," he ordered (so bossy! Where could he have learned that?). "I'm going to call you back in half and hour to make sure you did."

So I made the call. The earliest date I could get was next Monday at 2 pm. Monday is a holiday, the observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, so there is no possibility of my allowing the demands of my job to keep me from getting to the appointment. My son leaves to go back to school that morning, though, so unfortunately he won't be able to accompany me.

There is a part of me that wonders if this little knee issue that I'm having isn't God's sneaky way of helping my boy to his future profession. He is deeply interested in orthopedics and sports medicine, but thinks medical school takes too many years and I also know that secretly he wonders if he's smart enough. He's never truly understood how bright and capable he is. At the moment, he's saying maybe he'll become a paramedic. I simply make assenting noises when he says that, because I am very sure that whatever path he came to this earth to pursue, he will find it. All I need to do right now is get my knee taken care of and let myself appreciate his expression of concern and love.

Thank you, son. I love you, too.