Last Excerpt from Memoir Class

I don't remember this prompt - but this is all about my son - who I absolutely adore.  We tease him about this all of the time - and he is good natured about it.  He frequently feels "different" because he doesn't quite fit right in the world - but don't we all?

My son is incredibly brilliant.  I know most parents think this about their children, but I swear this is different.  He is technically a genius – his IQ is 165.  I only know this because the school tested him when he begged them to teach him Algebra when he was in kindergarten.  He had already mastered long division.

People think having a smart kid is the ideal, but what they don’t realize is that with all that intellect filling up his brain, my son lacks common sense.  Things that most people take for granted are incredibly difficult for my son to figure out.  Perhaps it is because he is too busy thinking smart thoughts to bother with them.

This manifested itself at an early age.  He would be so involved in building a mecca out of Legos or constructing a roller coaster with his Knex – that he would forget to go to the bathroom.  This resulted in many accidents.  It got to the point where he would be running for the bathroom at the last minute and everyone would dive out of the way lest they get sprayed.

As he got older, there were more things to do.  His mind needed to be constantly active.  We would take a five minute drive in the car and he would need to bring a book to read or a video game.  When he got his driver’s license, he got lost constantly because he had never paid attention to where he was going.  A trip to the store could take three hours and an entire tank of gas.

Excerpts from Memoir Class - Part 4

We had to write about one of our favorite pictures - again five minutes.  This one was written right after the September 11 piece so it was a little bit of a hard gear shift...

Andy lay on his back on the pink quilted blanket, his pudgy hands clutching the picture book.  His five year old face was scrunched up as he earnestly read the words out loud.  Beside him, Molly stared at the pictures in the books, too young to decipher anything but bright vivid colors.  For her, it was not about the story, but about being with her big brother.

He lay his blond head against her matching smaller one, giggling and laughing at the story- making all of the right voices at the proper time – a feat that was difficult for much older children but he did it with ease. 

Will all of the brother/sister moments be as precious as this one snapshot in time?  An innocent time before fights, hurt feelings and indifference enter the relationship?  When gender differences don’t matter?  When it is simply about enjoying each other’s company?

Molly reaches for her bottle and snuggles closer to her big brother.  She is six months old but he is already her hero – a place he will occupy for the rest of her life.  Precisely because of these precious, early moments of togetherness – of cuddling and giggling and sharing something they both love.