Ricky's Here

My son is visiting with me for a couple of days. He flew up last night from Abbotsford so he could walk with me in Betty's Run, and so he could help me on the drive down from Calgary to Vancouver. I'll be spending next week with my Mom and Ray. I am so happy to see him, to relax and spend some time just hanging out.

Ricky is turning into a fine young man. I have always believed in who he could be, and he is more than turning into that kind of person you want to have around. He is easy going, the anger of youth seeming to have left him almost complete. He is generous, more than willing to help where help is needed. He has turned into a tidy person who doesn't mind cleaning up around the apartment. That's a real shock to me, as I have not experienced this from him in the past.

What has impressed me the most with this trip is that he is paying his own way, completely. When he said he would come up, he asked if I would use my credit card to buy his ticket, saying that he would pay me back. The first thing he did when he got in the truck, when I picked him up at the airport, was not only to pay me back, but to give me some extra, just because. When I asked him about it, he said "I just want to do things right."

He has no expectations of me. He has asked me for nothing. He even went out and bought his own beer. Fortunately he will let me cook for him. As he says, even crippled and in a wheelchair, bound by the losses of ALS, I can still cook better than him. I smiled at that; it felt good to hear it. And then, this morning, he went and bought me a Chromecast; I used the extra money he gave me to pay for it, so it really is a gift from him. He's set it up and right now he is playing this awesome mix from the '60's and '70's. Once again I am surprised; this is a terrific music mix.

It means a great deal to me, to see him turn into the kind of man I always knew he could be. I thought I would not live long enough to see him mature into an adult. I thought ALS would take this from me, the pleasure of relating to him as a grown up. I thought I would never get a chance, yet here it is. He even admitted that he was a bit of a jerk when he was here for that first year of ALS. But I didn't need to hear that. I am so proud of what he is becoming. I am proud of all my children. I am very fortunate.