Almost Final
When you saw Mike and Austin together, you had to smile. They were so different. Mike was tall, dark-haired, lanky and quiet. Mike wore glasses. He did have a heart of gold, though. Austin was short, blond-haired, outgoing, and independent. Of course, Austin was only five years old so he had an excuse for being short.
Our building has four apartments, two on each floor. Mike and Austin had the other apartment on the first floor. The apartments are long with a hallway that runs almost the full length. Kids love this hallway, it is their runway to all of the exciting places that kids can imagine. I took pleasure in hearing Austin come home from day care. He tore down that hallway as if he was impatient to see everything he missed during the day. I'd hear him through the walls and say “Austin’s home!” I didn’t see my neighbors often, but would always gravitate to my back door if I heard a child’s voice on the porch.
Austin joined our neighborhood almost three years ago. When his mother died unexpectedly, his uncle, Mike, took him in. Austin’s father was in prison for crimes against Austin that are too horrible to recount. Mike became his world. It was obvious the feeling was mutual. From the very beginning of this newfound relationship, Mike wanted to adopt his nephew. In March of 2005, he succeeded in his quest. Since I don’t have children of my own, I rather “adopted” Austin. Every time I got a toy in a box of cereal or with the purchase of another product, I put it aside for him. At Christmas, I would buy him some coloring books and crayons. They were always little things, but to Austin, they meant something. He was always happy to have a new person to talk to about his day.
Mike got sick a few months back. When his car hadn’t moved for several days, I knocked on his door to see what was going on. After several weeks of illness, he was diagnosed with mononeuclosis. Since he was very weak, Austin was spending some time with other family members out of town. He and Mike spoke daily on the telephone; but it was the first time they had been apart in more than two years. It was hard on both of them. Such is the trial of single parenting. I foresee similar instances in the future. Fortunately, Austin seems to be quite hardy. Aside from the scar that is a souvenir from his father, he’s quite healthy.
Mike bought a condominium and has left the neighborhood. Since Austin will be starting kindergarten in September, Mike needed to make some choices about schools. He did not feel the schools in this area would do. Austin deserves to have a real home. Mike was sleeping in the sunroom of the apartment so that Austin and his roommate had their own bedrooms. This was part of the adoption process so that the child would not feel as if he was a disruption in the household. He needed to have his own space, his own room.
The back porch and driveway of our building aren’t very good spaces for kids. The elementary school playground is not that far away and was a great treat for Austin, but it is not the same as having your own yard right outside your door. It was also not something that Austin could really do on his own. So, I’m very happy for both of them. I will definitely miss Austin now that he's gone. I will miss Mike, too, but I probably wouldn’t have really known Mike if it hadn’t been for the little boy who stole my heart.
The red tape Mike went through to provide a home for Austin will remain vivid in my mind. The slowness of the adoption process and inappropriate consideration for the natural father will always cause me to shake my head. An adoption of a foreign child would have been a much faster and less costly process. I don't know how many single men try to adopt. Mike is undoubtedly a stronger person today than he was before Austin came to him. He will be a good father. I hope Austin one day realizes just how lucky he is.
Today is such a big day
in your young life.
You’ve gone from “uncle” to “dad”
at the fate of the court.
All of your hard work,
persistence, love, and money
have paid off.
Your sister couldn’t have
asked for more.
Most of all, your belief
in the good things in life
have saved you both.
Look forward
with pride and hope.
You have
a wonderful son
and he,
a perfect father.
Our building has four apartments, two on each floor. Mike and Austin had the other apartment on the first floor. The apartments are long with a hallway that runs almost the full length. Kids love this hallway, it is their runway to all of the exciting places that kids can imagine. I took pleasure in hearing Austin come home from day care. He tore down that hallway as if he was impatient to see everything he missed during the day. I'd hear him through the walls and say “Austin’s home!” I didn’t see my neighbors often, but would always gravitate to my back door if I heard a child’s voice on the porch.
Austin joined our neighborhood almost three years ago. When his mother died unexpectedly, his uncle, Mike, took him in. Austin’s father was in prison for crimes against Austin that are too horrible to recount. Mike became his world. It was obvious the feeling was mutual. From the very beginning of this newfound relationship, Mike wanted to adopt his nephew. In March of 2005, he succeeded in his quest. Since I don’t have children of my own, I rather “adopted” Austin. Every time I got a toy in a box of cereal or with the purchase of another product, I put it aside for him. At Christmas, I would buy him some coloring books and crayons. They were always little things, but to Austin, they meant something. He was always happy to have a new person to talk to about his day.
Mike got sick a few months back. When his car hadn’t moved for several days, I knocked on his door to see what was going on. After several weeks of illness, he was diagnosed with mononeuclosis. Since he was very weak, Austin was spending some time with other family members out of town. He and Mike spoke daily on the telephone; but it was the first time they had been apart in more than two years. It was hard on both of them. Such is the trial of single parenting. I foresee similar instances in the future. Fortunately, Austin seems to be quite hardy. Aside from the scar that is a souvenir from his father, he’s quite healthy.
Mike bought a condominium and has left the neighborhood. Since Austin will be starting kindergarten in September, Mike needed to make some choices about schools. He did not feel the schools in this area would do. Austin deserves to have a real home. Mike was sleeping in the sunroom of the apartment so that Austin and his roommate had their own bedrooms. This was part of the adoption process so that the child would not feel as if he was a disruption in the household. He needed to have his own space, his own room.
The back porch and driveway of our building aren’t very good spaces for kids. The elementary school playground is not that far away and was a great treat for Austin, but it is not the same as having your own yard right outside your door. It was also not something that Austin could really do on his own. So, I’m very happy for both of them. I will definitely miss Austin now that he's gone. I will miss Mike, too, but I probably wouldn’t have really known Mike if it hadn’t been for the little boy who stole my heart.
The red tape Mike went through to provide a home for Austin will remain vivid in my mind. The slowness of the adoption process and inappropriate consideration for the natural father will always cause me to shake my head. An adoption of a foreign child would have been a much faster and less costly process. I don't know how many single men try to adopt. Mike is undoubtedly a stronger person today than he was before Austin came to him. He will be a good father. I hope Austin one day realizes just how lucky he is.
Today is such a big day
in your young life.
You’ve gone from “uncle” to “dad”
at the fate of the court.
All of your hard work,
persistence, love, and money
have paid off.
Your sister couldn’t have
asked for more.
Most of all, your belief
in the good things in life
have saved you both.
Look forward
with pride and hope.
You have
a wonderful son
and he,
a perfect father.
posted by Vickie at 5:33 PM
7 Comments:
Aside from the scar that was a souvenir from his father, he’s quite a healthy little boy.
This line bothers me. Seems a little stumbly.
scar that was... I think scar that IS would be more correct, as is, it's shifty.
he's quite a healthy little boy, seems more wordy than need be, and has strange syntax... he's quite healthy would be less verbose, and easier to read?
Otherwise, this is a great revision. I like the end quite a lot especially
I fixed the part you questioned. I changed the whole thing over from present tense to past tense. Even though Mike still has some stuff next door, he's been gone for over a week. This is where I had some problems. I need to go through it again.
oh, yeah, did I say thank you? Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Wunnermous! The only other thing I see is the pocket protector line - it seems a bit unrelated and abrupt. And you're very welcome. I owe you LOTS for the review/promotion.
yeah, my attempts at humor were mostly removed. No more salt and pepper either. The pocket protetor will disappear. I think it does put a lable on him though.
Hi Vickie!
I enjoyed this (and apparently missed the pocket protector bit since I didn't see it -- I LIKE pocket protectors, hell, I'm marrying and engineer, I'd better, eh?) but back to this, I have to say it drew me in and made me think-- about the realities we exist on the periphery of and where the impact of decisions unexpectedly lie.
Laura,
Thanks so much for your comments. Actually, you can still see the pocket protector part in the draft before this...5/14/05 is one that I found.
Post a Comment
<< Home