"Are You Able to Come?"

My phone rang Monday afternoon as I was walking into McDonalds. (Had to visit their little girls room. *wink*) I knew it was Joshua calling, so I answered the phone. (Not everybody can interrupt nature's call, you know. LOL) And the first thing I heard was, "Are you able to come?"

He was at his last cross-country meet of the season and as of that morning I hadn't known if I'd be able to go to it. I needed to find someone to call Bingo for me at Edgewood, and told Joshua if I was able to do that I would come to his meet. So he was just calling to check.
I said, "Yes. I just got into DeWitt. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Good! Bye!" (Which is different than, "Good-bye!")
And with that, Joshua hung up.

I chuckled at his abruptness. But I forgave it quickly - as I considered the minor miracle I'd just experienced.
The boy who thinks I am annoying more often than not; the boy who seems to avoid me more than he wants to be with me; the boy who doesn't believe I was ever a teenager who experienced things like he is facing; that boy was glad I was coming to his cross-country meet.

When I got to the school I saw Joshua and he came over to talk to me briefly. But then he had to get away from me go warm up with his team.
I cheered him on as he ran, and met him at the finish line to congratulate him for a race well run. And I resisted the urge to give him a hug, or even a high-five, because I was pretty sure he wasn't looking for any public displays of affection from his mom. Honestly, I was just thankful he was talking to me.
We stayed for the awards ceremony, and Joshua told me I could sit in the stands. He was going over to talk to some friends. So I sat there and watched him with the other kids. I watched him sit with some of his teammates for the ceremony. I watched him receive his individual and team awards. And although I wasn't invited to be part of the festivities "up close and personal" I was delighted to watch from afar. Because I knew Joshua was glad I was watching.

"Are you able to come?" "Good!"
Ahhhh. How sweet the sound!