Jack

"Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their parents." — Proverbs 17:6

Jack is twelve today.

I called this morning and Dan answered and said Jack was still asleep, which is exactly right for a boy on his birthday in summer. Dan said they would come out this afternoon, all four of them, and I said good.

I have a card for him on the kitchen table. It is not the kind with flowers on the front. It is the kind with a fishing pole on the front, which is closer to right but still not exactly right because Jack does not fish, he just likes the idea of it, the way boys his age like the idea of most things more than the thing itself.

He is a boy who is easy in a room. He does not need to be the loudest. He does not need to be noticed. He comes in and he sits down and he eats what is in front of him and he says thank you and he goes outside and you do not worry about him, which is a kind of grace in a child that you cannot teach and should not try to take credit for.

Twelve. The age when you are still a boy in every way that matters but the man is in there somewhere, under the surface, the way the red is under the green of a tomato in late June. You cannot see it yet but it is there and it is coming and you do not rush it.

Happy birthday, Jack. The card is on the table and the cake will be chocolate and your grandmother is glad you were born.

Ruby keeps a collection of prayers at her kitchen table. You can find them here.