A post about a great boy...who came 7 years ago to our lives.

We’d gotten the call.  After a rough pregnancy…my sister was going to deliver. 

 

My wife at the time and I got into our car with directions on how to get to Syracuse’s hospital…and we were off.  We arrived and Mom and Dad were there along with Aunt Shirley.  The worry was evident on Mom’s face.  She’d been into see her.  My sister had had a ROUGH time.  Bloodtype mismatch, many false contractions, general moodiness (that appears to be the only holdover from the pregnancy that never left) and it was all coming to this.  The name had been picked…and so it was time. 

 

Today was the day William Edward Lisk was to be born.

 

To this point…it had seemed like this branch of the Benson tree was going to not branch.  It’d been discovered a year earlier…that I was unable to father a baby through some medical jargon that was too hard for me to hear the first time…let alone rehash in writing.  Suffice it to say…being a Dad was something that wasn’t in the cards for me and up until 8 months earlier…we didn’t think it was something possible for Betty either.  So it was with some surprise, and some jealousy when I heard that she was expecting.  I knew this would change the family dynamic forever. 

 

I really didn’t know how much.

 

From that day on July 7, 2007 (yes…Sally Benson’s first grandbaby was born on 7-7-7…which if you knew Mom’s love for slots would find the irony of that incredibly awesome…I know she did)…our family would become at times hyper focused on providing the best life we could for that guy.  In return he provided us with something we’d never really had before.  A vision for the future.  The knowledge that our line…would go on.  He brought such joy to our lives…especially to Mom. 

 

From day one…he and my Mom shared a very special connection.  One that harkened to me back to my own childhood and the connection I had with my maternal Grandmother.  I imagined looking at that relationship and got excited to see how that relationship would blossom.  Would he (like me) long to spend weekends at Grandma’s?  Would he spend hours just talking with her before going and watching TV in her room.  Would he use it as a springboard to build deeper relationships with his cousins (or in this case…second cousins)…would he and her just enjoy conversations about things in his life as he grew up…seeking her counsel (and approval) with whatever he was doing?  Would he be as devastated as I was…at the inevitable separation that old age brings? 

 

These ideas filled me with great joy. 

 

Unfortunately that wasn’t how everything played out.  With Mom’s loss last year…in some ways I feel so robbed for my nephew.  That relationship for me was a defining one in my life.  That loss very poignant.  For Billy...it’s different.  He misses Mom terribly.  It’s obvious in a lot of ways…but he’s also 7.  For him…mom’s death is something he and Brookie will just adjust to as they mature and develop and in some ways take it as a ‘given’. 

 

What amazes me though…is seeing God’s plan in all of it.

 

Billy and by extension…Brookie have been such a beam of light for this family through the last (almost) 11 months. 

 

The ripple effects of the loss of my mother are still being identified today.  We’re seeing things and saying “God Mom would have LOVED that…”.  Events (at least for me) that I know would have been amazing for her…have a bittersweet taste. 

 

It’d be easy to be melancholy about the future without Mom.

 

But then I look at Billy.  

 

He has such a great spirit.  An incredibly innocent way of looking at the world.  He’s a 7 year old boy who just wants to hug those he loves.  He would spend hours at Mom’s house…just waiting on her.  When she was sick…or her arthritis would flare up…he’d sleep in a bed on her side…and if she needed anything he’d do it without hesitation.  He looks at the world and feels safest when those he loves are around and just yesterday watching him come off the side of the pool (granted…because I came up with the game of ‘dunk Uncle Will’…) to play with us was a big step for him as he usually is too afraid to come off the steps.  He has a hug for everyone and a smile that melts your heart. 

 

He’s the future of this family.  He’s going to outlive me…and he’s probably (as I have no children) at least help take care of me in my enfeebleness.  I love that little boy so much.

 

God knew 7 years ago…that Billy would be the start of something that would get Dad, Betty and I through the hardest part of our lives so far.  He’s a gift from God to us and I don’t think I’d be as far along healing as I am if it wasn’t for him and Brookie.

 

I’m proud of my nephew and I look forward to becoming better friends with him through his life.  On this day of his 7^th Birth…I find myself praying for him and hoping that this life God has created…be one of success and joy.

 

Love you Bubbie;

 

Thanks for Reading.