Leaving You

My wife had to fly out to St. Louis this morning for a job interview.  She is being courted by Washington University, and they wanted her to come meet the other professors and give a presentation of her work.  She's been preparing for (or more accurately stressing and agonizing over) it for weeks now, but today was finally the day for her to go there and wow them.

We had to get Troy up super early, but as usual he surprised me.  I started waking him up 30 minutes early, because it usually takes a half hour of me cajoling him before he'll reluctantly get out of bed.  This morning, I started the process and then went downstairs to get some breakfast.  Within two minutes, I heard his little feet pattering across the kitchen tiles, and I looked over to see him walking towards me with his hair sticking out in every direction and his eyes half closed.  He looked like one of those commercials for a coffee company...pre-caffeine.  I changed his diaper and clothes and settled him on the couch with some chocolate milk and cartoons to wake up.

It still never ceases to amaze me at how perceptive Troy is.  I had told him yesterday that we'd have to take his mama to the airport today and that she'd have to be away for a few days, but I wasn't really sure that he understood what that meant.  But in the car ride to the airport, he put his little hand on top of hers, and he said, "I don't want to take you to the airport, mama.  I don't want you to go.  Let's do it later."

Tearing up, she said, "Unfortunately, it has to be today, baby.  Mama has to go, but I don't want to leave you."

Troy thought about this for a few seconds and then replied, "Well, I don't want to leave you at the airport.  I'm very sad, mama."

I'm not going to lie, I was crying by this point too.