Dear Will,
Once again, I have no excuse for why I'm writing you a birthday letter almost a full month after your birthday. Not really, anyway. Between you and Garrett and Matthew, there was a ball game almost every night and, sometimes, more than one. Perhaps in all the bat swinging. the base running, and the ball catching there just wasn't time for the word writing.
I almost just don't know what to say. You are slaying dragons bigger than any five-year-old warrior knight should even be expected to fight. When you turned four in the middle of a global pandemic, we were new to the game of therapies and service plans. But you have spent the past year learning and growing and changing. It has been a year of various therapies, adjusting our expectations, and figuring out what works for you. We have had the best doctor and therapist and there are not words to express how thankful I am for both of them.
There is a spot in my heart that holds all the hope that one day, we will look back, and see a battle field of conquered giants. I believe you will do great things because you are already so amazing. Life looks different for you because your brain is a magnificent wonderland of diversity.
There's a part in The Incredibles 2 where Baby Jack Jack gets ALL THE POWERS and he's basically going through walls and levitating and whatnot. That's you. I mean, you basically have superpowers without actually having superpowers. There is so much energy that it's a wonder you did not explode upon entry. You are like Dennis the Menace except that, under all that curiosity and mischief, there is the sweetest soul who longs to please everyone.
I will not stop telling the world that you are a blazing supernova, a comet pulled from orbit*, an oasis of joy. You are brilliant. The speed at which you can absorb knowledge is astounding. The cry of my heart is that you would learn to love learning and not see it as an evil monster standing between you and your Legos. But, while we're on the subject, your Lego building skills are next level. The things you create blow my mind. And, while we're also on the subject, the things you know blow my mind. Reading and sight words and synonyms and two times ten is twenty.
So much was shut down this year but you managed to make it through preschool with the kindest and most patient teacher. At the end of the year, your school recorded a performance and I was blown away by how well you did. At Christmastime, you put a blanket on your head and twirled around a pillar while the class sang their songs. So that is absolutely what I was expecting. When the music started and you did everything that was required of you, I burst into tears and ugly cried nonstop for the duration. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
I want to see the world through your eyes. Your life is a series of, "Because I needed to know if..." You HAD to cut a hole in the wall because you HAD to know if there might be snakes living inside. Oh don't get me wrong, there was a hefty punishment for the total destruction of a two inch by two inch circle of missing wall but, if we're looking for a win, it was a near perfect circle AND you managed to keep all your fingers while carving said hole with a steak knife.
Will, your bike riding and scooter skills are amazing, you now swim like a fish, and you are so brave with all the things you try on the trampoline. You love being outside, playing with your brothers, watching the Padres play baseball on TV, Disney+, building Legos, playing your keyboard, ALL THE BERRIES (all the fruit, really, but especially berries), playing in the creek, being read to, learning about Jesus, and so so much more.
Life ebbs and flows. It is easy and hard, sometimes at the exact same time. But, right now, maybe for a minute or maybe for a season, we are in such a sweet spot with you. I'm sitting in it, savoring it, and piling up stones of remembrance for a time when we are in a not so sweet spot. My goodness gracious I am so thankful to Jesus for you. You are changing my life in all the very best ways.
I love you.
Mom
*Wicked.
