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One thing I have FINALLY learned. My son was “silent Cal”. If he came home from school and I'd ask him what he'd done in school, the standard reply was, “Nuthin’”. When his more ebullient friends would come home with him (as they most often did, i.e. Church of the Open Door), I'd find out they'd had an assembly, with a falconer who brought an American Eagle, a Falcon and other birds of prey and allowed them to fly free — nuthin’, huh? As he got older, I was beginning to think he really was being spirited away and not really in school (and, sadly, his grades reflected his disengaged persona). His dad and I despaired, both of us were very verbal (”theatrical”, as our son referred to us). On standardized tests, his vocabulary was off the charts, but not much came out of “silent Cal's” mouth. We resigned ourselves to the fact that he a) was mildly autistic or b) found us beneath his dignity ... ... UNTIL...

Last month. We got our first e-mail from him regarding his training at OCS. The e-mail was a page and a half long, perfectly punctuated, perfectly spelled and his grammar was A+. Still, I was suspicious (I thought he copied the paragraphs out of his text books.)... ... UNTIL...

Last weekend. He called at 7:13 a.m. our time. He spoke to us for 3 and a half hours (only giving us time to ask an occasional question for clarification [one which occurred to me was, Who are you and what have you done to my son??!?”]) My mother would tell me to be patient when she'd see my fallen face when he was young. She'd say, “Wait, he'll find the key and open the door. Just be patient.”

I can honestly say, HE'S OKAY! MY GOD AND SAVIOR, ALL MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED. I guess it's like the kid who never spoke until he came down one morning at age 25 and said his oatmeal was cold. His parents rejoiced and asked how this miracle of speech had occurred. The kid replied, “Up to now, everything has been all right.”

I am dancing the family jig for you!

Patience and faith is a major gift of family because we do get to see the truth of our babies sooner or later! Sometimes we have to wait for it and not lose hope and vision!

Thanks so much for sharing that piece of family wisdom with me. We have this experience with the second one. Strong, silent type...until he wasn’t.