This summer Mitchell’s Aunt Sonya married a wonderfully loving man. On the evening prior to her wedding we attended a family gathering at my in-laws to celebrate the union of two noble souls who each had their share of hardship and sorrows and were blessed to find one another. It was a moment of rest and reunion, a celebration of love and family and a testament that clouds do break even though the storms of life can seem to last forever.
As we sat in the warm shadow of the hills there wasn't a breeze within 100 miles, I’m sure of it, and the sounds of evening began to softly fill the air. It was a beautiful evening … the kind of evening Mitch, who loved nature, would have come to me and said “Dad, you have to come outside and see this.”
Each of Sonya’s brothers and sisters took turns offering well wishes and honored a woman who spent her life in the service of others. Many made reference to our fallen son and recognized her tender relationship with him. There was a spirit of love and gratitude that night that seemed to reach the heavens and beyond. On this evening an ordinary backyard became hallowed ground.
When it was Natalie’s turn to honor her sister she struggled to speak through emotions that weighed heavy on her soul. Sonya was a faithful friend to Natalie and in many ways a second mother. She was also one of Mitchell’s most ardent champions, always looking out for his medical needs and helping us navigate a bewilderingly vague landscape of “what’s next”.
Natalie told her sister how much she loved her and how grateful she was for being there in times of trouble. Two conversations were taking place; one was spoken and the other felt. On the one hand there were words of love and appreciation and on the other feelings of tremendous sorrow. At the end of her tear-filled tribute, I remember seeing my wife hug her sister and they both wept at the loss of a little boy they loved deeply. The look of love and anguish on my wife’s face broke me.
I found myself taking more photos than normal this day so as to hide my face that, despite my best efforts, was racked with emotion. All I wanted to do was crawl inside a bush or a forest or a deep cave and water the earth with my tears. Yet despite the pain of this moment, seeing my tender wife suffer a parent’s greatest loss, I also saw beauty.
Aristotle had it right when he said we become what we repeatedly do.
In this moment I saw two women who spent their lives offering love and grace to others and in turn they received the same from many. Sure there have been some dark souls who didn't reciprocate their tender love and goodness. But they never let the darkness of others get to them nor the hardships of life make them bitter. They continued to love and lift others freely and make the best of whatever difficulties befell them. These two women became what they repeatedly practiced.
We often think of shields as being hard and impenetrable. But there are other shields that cannot be seen and sometimes they present themselves as an earthly paradox. Some shields are strongest when they are soft; and in matters of the soul it is a paradox with a heavenly promise. In their case, these two women became what they repeatedly practiced: soft and graceful. And when hardships came and threatened to destroy them, the grace and goodness in their hearts became a shield unto them. The softness in their hearts protected them from becoming calloused, hardened or resentful. Instead of letting life’s hardships make them bitter, the grace in their hearts made them better.
As I think upon this tender moment I cannot help but see great sorrow by the loss of my son. But in the depths of this sorrow I also see grace. And where there is grace there is beauty.
When Mitch was a small child he always stuffed in his pockets two toys – one was a figure of a little boy with a ball cap and backpack and the other was a man wearing a hard hat and work clothes. To baby Mitch, this was a symbol of him and me. For a season he never went anywhere without them and I have taken many photos of him kissing this miniature daddy with his tender little lips. Whenever he kissed this little dad I would quickly snatch his little guy and kiss it with the same tenderness he did mine. We would both smile and giggle and then he would reach to me and give me a big real-life hug and kiss. Those are the best. My heart would melt to see this little boy overflowing with love even during his youngest years.
I love this photo with all of my heart. On the surface I see a loving boy with emblems of his heart and identity. I love it because it tells a story of childlike love and innocence and what it means to belong to something and someone.
But if I look carefully, this image tells a story within a story. I also see Mitchie’s chubby little arm stained with marker and paints because his mother always preferred giving him an experience rather than pacifying him with some entertainment source. She could have taken the easy road a million times, while nobody was looking, and sat him in front of a movie or video game. Instead she always went to great lengths to give our children growth-promoting experiences. Every night she would collapse with exhaustion, wondering if she had done enough. In the mirror she probably saw a tattered mother unsure of herself. But through my eyes, I saw a hero.
This image is special to me because it contains two portraits of love; one between a boy and his father and another between a mother and her son. When I set out to have a family I knew I would love, but I never knew I would love like this – and I have fallen in love with love.
I don’t carry two toys in my pocket as emblems of my affections, but I do carry my son in my heart and soul. And for as long as I live I will remember this story within a story; and I hope that when I die my arms and hands are stained with marker, paint and dirt from serving and loving my wife and children. For if I have loved, then I have truly lived.
Several years ago I introduced a concept to my mother called ‘Cousins Camp’. I had recently discovered it through a client of mine who also had a large family and I thought we could benefit from following their example. In essence, it’s a 3-4 day family retreat where all of the cousins get together and participate in a variety of family & team-building activities. The responsibility to run the program rotates each year among the mothers so everyone gets a chance to lead. For many years now Cousins Camp has become a family staple and something the cousins/grandchildren look forward to each summer.
A few summers ago, during our annual Cousins Camp, a small structure had been built near a small grove of trees at our family ranch. While concrete was being poured around the foundation my mother had arranged for each of the grandchildren to leave their hand print as the concrete was setting. Mitch, while eternally shy and quiet, was excited to participate. He had no idea at the time how precious his contribution would soon become to his mother and father.
Fast-forward to the summer of 2013 when I visited my mother’s ranch and stumbled across Mitchell’s hand print. I had all but forgotten about it. But there it was, covered in leaves like a secret nature was trying to keep ... obscured by the shifting shadow of the trees. Upon seeing it I fell to my knees and immediately sobbed. I couldn't believe how small and sweet his hand was and how I wished to hold it so. Within eye-shot of my son’s hand print was the tree-fort bridge he so bravely crossed when he was an even younger boy. Suddenly I was haunted by days gone by and longed for the warmth and comfort of yesteryear.
As I sat on the dirt trying to collect myself I couldn't help but think that 20 years from now that very bridge where Mitch showed such bravery will have weathered and decayed and all the cousins, who are children now, will have families of their own. The echo of days gone by will become fainter, and eventually silent. Their children, like all children, will look to the hope and promise of tomorrow – giving little thought to those who came before them.
We may not remember the details of days gone by, but the effects of those moments, good or bad, will long outlast their memory. Watching my own children grow, and die, has been cause for serious reflection. Whether we place our hands in setting concrete or find our hands in each other’s lives, we are shaping each other … and ourselves … and leaving a lasting impression.
My little son’s hands have painfully shaped me. Now, as I look to my own hands, I promise to use them to bind wounds and never be the cause of them; to use them to build and not destroy, to love and not hate.
That little hand print hidden in the shadow of the woods, from a boy who was as sweet and shy as he was broken, has left more than an impression in concrete. And I vow to never allow the passage of time or easier paths to undo the lessons he taught me at so high a price.
Ponderous little Wyatt contemplating big realities.