what could be worse?

Collin and our boys at his 10th birthday.

Bright made a best friend this year.  Collin, two years Bright's senior (with bigger feet than mine), came into our lives just after moving to our new home, and when he came, he brought our eldest son to life.  No other kid "gets" Bright like Collin does.  Not only that, but Collin doesn't mind bringing Zion along wherever they go, whatever they do.  Zion might fall down and get hurt, but you can bet Collin will dry his tears and bring him home, while Bright bounces ahead to relay the whole story.

On Sunday, Collin delivered devastating news to Bright:  their family is moving in two months time, to Washington D.C. (that's on the other side of the world for us) !!!  The news is bad for me, too, by the way, because Collin's mom, Rachel, is my new writing buddy.  But this post isn't about me.

Bright spent the better part of Sunday crying, on and off, while he struggled to get used to the idea of Collin leaving the country.

"I thought I would grow up with him," he lamented.  "I thought he was the friend I would play with for my whole childhood!"

"It's just that this is the first time I've ever had to go through something like this!" he cried.

"My best friend is moving away.  What could be worse?!?!"

It was a very tearful day.  I didn't know what to say to make it better.  I cried right along with him, because truthfully, a mother feels it almost as much as the kids do, thinking about her son's bosom buddy leaving him.

The only thing I could think of to say was, "Well, Honey, at least he's not moving to the middle of Nebraska!  We actually might go to Washington D.C. someday.  Every kid should."

"I went in the seventh grade!" Daniel hollered from the other room, where he was giving someone a bath or whatever.

"That's right, and so did I!" I said.  "We will almost certainly go to D.C. before you grow up all the way, and we'll visit the capitol and we'll stay with Collin and his family.  Won't that be fun?"

Bright looked at me, his face almost smiling.

"And maybe," I went on, "Collin will be the president of the United States some day!"

"Yeah, maybe," Bright said.  He was smiling now for sure.  I don't doubt that you could be the president, Collin.  You are a very, very, very special young man, and you were formative in my boys' early lives, and for that I will be ever grateful.  You will be missed sorely here in East Asia.  G0D bless you, son, and G0D be with you always.