Excerpt from my journal, April 22nd
The boys were up before the sun rose. I was only slightly aware of the movement in the room, but awake enough to know that I wanted to eek out another hour of sleep. I rolled over and in my slightly wakened state, remembered it was Wylie’s birthday. I mumbled a “happy birthday” that must have been clear enough to understand, because he replied with a very prompt and awake, “Thanks, mom!”. I could hear the excitement in his voice. He was celebrating his 15th birthday on a remote island in the South Pacific surrounded by world-class surfing. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know that he had an ear-to-ear grin on his face. In his mind, he had already ridden Cloud Break. He had already been barreled. Now he was making his dream a reality and on his birthday no less.
While the boys were out surfing, Aimee and I wrapped Wylie’s gifts and arranged them on his bed to await his return. He had already opened his first gift – new fins for his surfboard. His second gift didn’t need to be wrapped or opened. It came in the form of water, in the shape of a wave. Each wave he caught that morning was a gift. For him, the best gift of all was to be here on Tavarua, riding waves and forming memories of a lifetime. I loved that he understood the value of this experience and appreciated every moment.
As he walked through the door, the smile was even bigger than I imagined. His eyes had captured the blue of the ocean and sparkled like the late afternoon sun on the water. A lump formed in my throat. I was flooded with emotion. I held back a tear as I went over to give him a big birthday hug. My son was now 15 years old. He was taller than me, stronger than me, and in so many ways, more intelligent than me. I call him my sage. He is the calming force in my life. When things get hectic, he is the one to lay a hand on my shoulder and tell me everything is all right.
We all gathered on Wylie’s bed and watched him open each gift. There were just a few small items that we had bought during our travels. There was a carved wooden
mask and tiki from Tahiti, a new brush and body spray, and a t-shirt with a Kiwi using his beak as a record player needle. But, his favorite gift of all was the possum fur shoe inserts that we found in New Zealand. He had seen them in a store and fell in love with them. He was so excited when he discovered that we had bought them for him. He couldn’t wait to “rock the awesome, possum, feet”!
