Today my 13-year-old son noticed a box of my husband's ties on our kitchen counter and said, "Mom, how do you tie a tie?" My first response was, "Go ask your Da...", and then I paused and said, "We'll ask Dad when we visit him."
I saw that he had tried to tie one of the ties himself without much success, and I fought back tears as I showed him how to retie it. He asked me how I knew how to tie a tie so well, and I said, "Your daddy taught me."
For the next twenty minutes, my son sorted through my husband's ties and practiced tying several of them himself. Then he asked which one was his dad's favorite. I thought that was curious, and I asked him if he would like to keep one of the ties, as I was planning to mail the rest to my husband since he had forgotten them. He said yes, but then added that he didn't want to take his dad's favorite.
After I pointed out my husband's favorite, I left to run an errand. When I returned I found that my son had selected a tie, which he proudly wore for most of the rest day.
Claiming a piece of my husband's wardrobe brought my son so much joy, but it broke my heart, and today marks my first truly difficult day...all because of a simple tie.
It's really something how kids can pick out little items like that and they just mean so much. I remember when we left to have Zane, Garrett was distraught that his dad would have to go too. ha.. not so much that his mom was leaving, but not DAAADDD! Anyway, Lee found a harmonica of his and gave it to Garrett to keep under his pillow. He was about 5 and carried that thing everywhere while we were gone. Of course, it's not the same as Paul will be gone much longer.. but the sentiment is still there. I am glad Sam is finding value in his dad's things.
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