Your voice is echoing down the hall as you laugh, the kind of belly laugh that makes everyone around want to join. I’m laughing as I run behind you in this game of hide-and-seek-and-chase. I watch your light blonde waves bounce in the sunlight from the window, and as you round the corner your face turns back for a second to make sure I’m there.
I’ll always be right here.
I smile back at you as you disappear into the next room, and I laugh, “Slow down!” I skid around the corner and catch sight of you. You’ve gotten a bit further away, and you’re taller than I remember you being a second ago. That’s funny. But no matter. We’re still playing, and that’s what matters. You stop and look back, still checking to be sure I’m there, smiling with glee. Then you suddenly sprint in the other direction, faster than I remember you being, and you’re gone again. I hear you laughing as you run, calling out “Are you coming, Mom?”
I’ll always come.
I stop to ponder when “Mommy” became “Mom,” but there isn’t time to think about it. “Slow down!” I call out again, to no avail. You stop again, never wanting to be too far from me. Your grin spreads from ear to ear as you watch me try to catch up. Just when I think I’m going to get to where you are, you disappear around the corner again. One more time I hear your voice teasing “Mom, don’t lose me!”
I’ll never lose you.
I run into the next room and skid to a stop. I blink a few times. You’re so tall now. But a room ago, a hallway ago, you were so small. You’re still smiling with joy, but you aren’t running anymore. “Mom, what took you so long?” You skip away, but that’s ok because I’m not running as fast as I was before either. It isn’t quite as easy to run as it was, so this pace works fine. But now I’m also feeling uneasy about the next corner turn. “Slow down,” I say quietly, maybe to myself. “Mom, try to keep up.” With a twinkle in your eye, you’ve already gone into the next room.
I’ll always keep up.
In the next room stands a young man with dark blonde hair and that same bright smile. He towers over me as I try to figure out where my tiny boy went. In the middle of the fun and the games and the laughter, he just kept growing. Even though he was right in front of me, it still happened so fast. The young man is adjusting his tie for prom, and looks to me with joy and confidence as he turns to go, his date on his arm.
He doesn’t look back this time.
He knows I’m right here.
