A Week Too Fast

I don't know if it was because of his last (and third) request for a hug in the one minute he had before his boarding group was called and he exited through those terminal doors. Or if it was maybe because of that last little determined-not-to-cry smile and wave. I just know that dropping my little brother off at his gate at the airport this afternoon was no easy task.

And maybe this is just because I've spent the last two weeks almost completely in the company of two of the three most important men in my life. Or maybe it's just because my brother and I share the same emotional bone as both our sister and our mother. Or maybe it's just because we've had such a good time this last week it's hard to see him go.

How about all of the above?

We had a lot of fun, including movies, playing at the pool, great food (he made me go to Hot Diggity Dogs twice, darnit, and how amazing is it when you can share a lunch at Rusan's with a kid!), lots of rounds of Life and Uno, video games, walking around downtown (both Nashville and Franklin), a fantastic weekend at the lake, and time just to talk. And talking with Marcus isn't like talking to your average twelve year-old, that's for sure.

I've spent the last week remembering what can happen in the life of someone in just a span of twelve years and how much I want to share every lesson I have ever learned with that little man. I left for college when he was six, and there's so much of the last six years that I'm still trying to learn about him.

And while things get back to normal here, which is bittersweet, I have to admit one thing: I hate that I will not wake up tomorrow morning (for the second time, after Cliff has gone to work), giggle inside at the sight of Marcus' infamous bedhead when he finally wakes up (because he is growing his hair out, again), fix two bowls of Reese's Puffs cereal, and spend the first part of the morning watching PBS Kids shows and figuring out our plan for the day.