Date Night

I have no pictures to prove it, but I went on the best date I've ever been on tonight.


E-V-E-R.


My date was extremely handsome in his firetruck long-sleeve t-shirt and GAP jeans. His blonde hair was combed just right and his blue eyes sparkled in every light. He was the perfect gentleman, always holding my hand, singing in my ear, and offering kisses every chance he could.


He was precious. Absolutely precious.


He took me shopping and threw everything I even considered buying in the buggy because he said I deserved anything and everything I wanted. As we cruised the aisles, he pointed out all the letters he recognized on the signs in the store while he gently placed his little hands on top of mine. Bless his heart, he was so patient in tagging along on my shopping spree that he wound up hungrier than a horse. He proclaimed, "Eat, eat" at least a thousand times before I could pull a snack trap and a sippy cup out of my bag. I knew his patience, like any man's, was wearing thin with the shopping extravaganza.


We checked out, called home to check in with Daddy, tossed our bags in the back of the car, and decided to make a little side trip to the halloween store. As we were walking in, I could see lots of dead looking things in the entryway and began preparing my date for the pretend nature of said deadish things. I was anticipating a minor freak out, as my date doesn't know much about halloween at this point in his life.


When walking past some sort of creepy creature, it stood up and made a "muah ha ha" kind of noise. My date was startled and jumped a little. I was expecting our side trip to be cut extremely short. However, much to my surprise, my date started laughing and saying, "Oh, cool!" He proceeded to run through the store (holding my hand, mind you) yelling, "Oh, cool!" at anything that moved or made noise or both.

He was about the cutest thing I've ever seen.

And, he knew exactly where to find the Thomas the Train costume. Too bad it was a little too big. We'll have to go another day and check another store for the right sized Thomas.

We were all filled up on shopping but our tummys were empty, so we headed to our favorite BBQ joint. Chocolate milk, sweet tea, pulled pork, mashed potatoes, and baked beans did the trick. We talked about the alphabet, The Wiggles, and all the blues singers whose pictures adorn the walls there. We even broke out in a spontaneous rendition of Laurie Berkner's "Pig on Your Head" song, except ours was about having spoons on our heads because that was what my date was doing at the time.

He was a perfect companion.

Tonight, I went on the best date I've ever been on. E-V-E-R.

I went on a date with my son. Just my son.

If I could, I would bottle up those few hours and relive them over and over and over for the rest of my life.

That boy is my heart, my world. I love him more deeply than I ever knew was possible. I look at him and wonder what the rest of his life will be like. What sports will he like to play? What subjects will he enjoy in school? What kind of teenager will he be? What college will he go to? What will he study? What profession will he choose? Who will he marry? How many children will he have?

Will he always love me the way he does right now?

That last one, well, I can't answer it any more than I can answer the others. But, I hope he'll always understand how much I love him, how much I'd give to make his life as full of happiness, health, and success as possible.

I want so much for him, but, mostly, I want him to know how much he's loved.

Tyler, I adore you, sweet boy. More than you can possibly know or understand. And, tonight, on our date, I fell in love with you all over again.

So, do you think we could do it again sometime soon?