This month our son turned 25. That’s just difficult to get my head around… I see him almost daily because we work in the same office so I am well aware that he is a grown man but I don’t know how that happened! High school was just yesterday and it really doesn’t seem that long ago that he was a small boy pretending to be a wild boy in a tree making videos in our back yard. He still runs around the backyard making videos but now he makes Trey be the star of the video and now he uses a better camera.

Today a friend posted her status on Facebook and mentioned that her son was turning 16 and he was going to start driving today. I went directly down memory lane. I remember rather vividly what happened the day Justin turned 16 and he had big plans to head to London and get his beginners permit. He was so eager to drive.

We moved to Ontario when Justin was heading to high school… Horrible thing to do to a teenage boy. He adjusted very well… Mostly. He had an issue with the high school washrooms and refused to use them. Many days he would tear in the house and run to the bathroom before he exploded. Apparently the places smelled really bad so he refused to go in there. Well, on his 16th birthday his friend convinced him to just use the washroom and holding his breath he went to take a pee… Near fatal mistake. He was obviously in a hurry to get back out and started to run. He somehow managed to slip and hit his leg on the corner of the ceramic tile wall and created a bloody mess. His friend took him to the office where the vice principal tried contacting his parents but proceeded to drive Justin to the nearest emergency department. We met on the road where they chased us and stopped us to say “follow me, he’ll be ok” and I think it was no accident that the VP was driving a sporty convertible.

Once at the hospital his injury (gash down his shin) was cleaned and the doctor came in to stitch it up. Well after he dropped the needle and picked it back up he froze his leg a little and began stitching the gauze into his leg…. I bet you’ve guessed it wasn’t a great hospital experience. That’s right… It was disturbing and we never returned to that hospital again.

The entire time Justin was just plain upset that he wasn’t getting his beginners permit that day. That’s it. His life was ruined. I think we took him the next day and he drives lots now. No worries. Life did go on. His leg however seemed to have constant infection for about 2 years (gee, I wonder why). That was a struggle but aside from a scar he’s alright now… Mostly.

I hadn’t planned to post about my big kid but that little walk down memory lane this morning just made me laugh. It’s good exercise for my old brain too. Thanks MJ for digging up that day for me. These moments all pass to quickly. We should all have the opportunity to live them out a second time! I just hope that my little boy doesn’t break himself as much as my big boy did.