According to Kaleb’s piano teacher, he’s a gifted student in
piano and learns at a lightening pace.
Kaleb tries to slow that pace down as much as possible and has yet to
engage his heart in the process of making music.
About half way through the year, when Kaleb’s hair was
growing into his eyes and I started complaining about his rag-a-muffin looks,
he decided to protest my insistence that he learn to play the piano. He said he wouldn’t get his hair cut until after
his last piano lesson. It was a long
winter and spring, looking at that mop on his head.
Even with his big Confirmation Day coming up at church, he
refused to even get a little spruced up so he’d look decent for the photo that
would be on display at our church for the next hundred years or so. He just sat there with his impish grin and a
giant mop of hair on his head.
Confirmation came and went and he didn’t even go for a trim. We couldn’t have been more proud of his
Confirmation accomplishment but he certainly looked like a long-haired hippy
freak during the process.
But the day finally arrived, and after his Spring piano
recital was complete, his lessons were over and he bid his teacher good-bye, we
headed straight for the barbershop and off it came with just a few slick runs
of the hair trimmer. It’s a shame we
were even charged for it since it was done in a flash. Kaleb’s ears were
finally exposed and he aged right in front of my eyes.
Gone was the baby face flanked by curly locks of golden hair
and before me stood the stark shape of his shaven head with ears bigger than
his years protruding out from both sides.
His smile was bigger than usual though as he too was glad to be rid of
those bothersome flocks of hair.
He’s been taking fencing lessons (he received as a
Confirmation gift) and when he puts on his helmet, he could hardly see what he
was supposed to attack since his hair fell smack down into his eyes. Served him right, I thought, but he attacked
blindly anyway. Now his game has much
improved since he can actually see what he’s doing. His showers are a bit
quicker, too, since it’s so easy to wash just the top of his head, with no
resistance.
His hair will grow back soon enough and he too will grow up
far too quickly. These teenage years
might be the most interesting yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment