Friday Letters to My Kids – March 13, 2015 –
Dear J, J, L and L,
One of the coolest kids I’ve ever known showed up in my house the other day. Actually, it was a photo of him.
In it he’s about six or seven years old. A first grader I would guess, or maybe the summer before second grade. He’s got a great set of wheels, complete with hand brakes. The Northwest sun reflects off one of his slightly chubby cheeks, which he inherited from his Mom’s side of the family.
Is this cool, or what?
He’s smiling, but just barely. I’m not sure if the camera simply captured him before he reached full grin or if he was going for a certain look.
He’s got a James Dean confidence in his stance, on his face, in the way he rests his hand on the bike. And, this important detail, he ain’t wearing no sissy helmet.
Not that the little guy on the right is a sissy. He probably went on to rock the quarterback spot of his High School football team in Gig Harbor. I liked his family. Nice people, salt of the earth people. I feel bad we lost touch with them.
Big J here, on the left, loved riding that bike. A year later he got a Joe Cool skateboard because, frankly, I’ve always thought of him as a Joe Cool. Suave, relaxed, charismatic, able to master any skill he set his mind to.
He’s still that way. Except the bike is way flashier and a helmet would not be a sissy thing at all, not at those speeds. And he has a hot blond who rides on the back with him. He can also do anything. At least, I think he can. Change out an engine on a car? Why not? Design, engineer and build a custom part for his ride? Easy. Make a computer do whatever the heck he wants it to? Cake. Need any kind of repair in the house done?? He’s got it handled. No problem.
On top of such coolness he’s a nice guy, too. He’s one of the first to stop and help push a car to the side of the road if they stall out in an intersection, or do a gas run for a car on empty. He’ll go out of his way to help a friend or a member of his family, even if it means missing out on sleep or giving up something he wants. How cool is that?
You might not be able to tell from this picture, but he’s got a bit of a teasing streak and loves to laugh, too.
This kid shows up at my house on a pretty regular basis, live and in person. Am I lucky or what? He’s still just as awesome as this picture shows.
I sure do love this kid.
Love,
Mom
~~~~~
“Dream as if you will live forever; Live as if you will die today.” ~ James Dean
Kami's Beautiful Morning 