Only the Beginning for My Son

POST # 100

My son will finish up his sophomore year in college this fall.  In his life he has spent more hours reading than anything else.  When he was not reading he would be writing.  When he was just a little kid he would find something interesting and then he would read everything possible until he learned as much as he could about whatever it was.  His brother and sisters and I were a captive audience and he use to educate us on something new every day.  And not just one fact, he could talk forever and make it interesting to us too.  From the time he was about 6 we have told him he was destined to grow up to be a college professor.  He could already give a pretty impressive lecture.  That he went through a phase in early elementary school when he liked to wear a white shirt and bow tie every day also led us to believe he was a professor in the making :).  He has had more hurdles to clear and mountains to climb to deal with a cruel, genetic illness than anyone should have to bear, especially as a teenager.  On top of his challenges, tough ones, he has worked almost full time since he was 15, he is a truly good person, kind, sensitive, truthful, reliable, intelligent.  I am proud to be his mother. He must be private or humble, I'm not sure what because he was on the Dean's list, was awarded a scholorship and recognized at the 2011 Honors Convocation at his college this spring and didn't tell any of his family.    He is working his way through college, totally supporting himself and paying for his education by being a Starbucks barista.  If any young man deserved help with paying for college it is him but I live on a small retirement check and SS disability so I can't help, and his father could but has chosen not to.  When my son was 4 I started working in a library in the children's department.  My son literally grew up in the library. To no one's suprise he is striving for a Masters in Library Science and a PHD in English. I have no doubt that he will make it.  Since he has to work his way through school he will always be older than others in his classes but that is ok.  I also have no doubt that he will be a published author, the next Nicholas Sparks or John Grisham, in his own good time. This spring he won grand prize and a nice little sum of money in a writing contest.  It was sponsored by the English Dept at his college and open to instructors and students.  In a nutshell contestants entered a room having no idea what subject they would be given or what subjects were available,  had two hours to write something, and had a handful of quotes from which to choose one and include somehow in their work.  My son wrote a poem....

HONESTY

Grand Prize Winner

Steven Trey Wallace



You said you could not,

but when a good friend asked you "Why?"

You stutter and squirm and wish the truth

was as easy as another drink,

or the cigarette you don't need,

or the lies your mother told you.

The truth is hard to come by when you're young,

This wouldn't have bothered you as much except,

They didn't tell you when you got older either.

You thought you knew, but when Rumi asked you,

"Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?"

You marveled at his wisdom,

and felt enlightened,

as you watched your cellmates leave,

and wished them good luck.

A long time ago, men killed other men to free themselves.

Your revolution will be far quieter,

But no less violent.