Mister-understood....

I decided after the wonderful time I had yesturday with the Viking Victor in my house that --- TODAY would be different. It helps that my husband left out on the next leg of his tour last night --- with each limb still intact and not one very long hair harmed on his head. But he didn't take the other male with him. LOL. So there is still just a bit of the cataclysmic bang threatening to explode in my lovely little abode..... No, not really :-)

I was just taking a few moments to sift through my son's pictures he's saved onto my computer. I do this periodically to ensure I am not caught unawares if you, as a parent, know what I mean. I stumbled across some very old interpretations of my oldest child. Remember the good old days when he would walk into the church we attend with the spiked out, jet-black hair and the 4 inch Marilyn Manson wedged boots???? eeeeek. Hated it then and I would hate it now. Remember when he just couldn't stand being agree-able or when he had to say, do and believe the bi-polar opposite of everything I, his fiercest enemy--- in his eyes, stood for? My georgous boy and I walked through a very dark time together. There were many days and nights when I cried myself to sleep thinking he would hate me forever and that he wouldn't make it through to the other side.

Well, he turns 18 in December. A couple of weeks ago a young man from our church said, "Hello, Mrs. Knapp." Honestly, I had no earthly idea who he was but I responded with a warm greeting and apologized for my lapse in memory. He introduced himself and explained, "Well I know you from watching you sing BUT.........." And here is where it started to get interesting "...I had Gregg in my cabin a few years ago and Kathryn is my sister."

"Oh,... I see." He then went on to inquire about Gregg. I told him he was doing really well --- 4.0 GPA, looking for a job etc, etc. The young man then stated that 'Gregg was a really cool kid' and that he thought 'he got a bad wrap when he often didn't deserve it.' Hmmm....

Gregg is extremely intelligent, and a hard-core artist. In a nutshell, he wants to shake up the norm, elicit a response and challenge the mind. He often succeeded --- but it came with a price. For a few years, Gregg used himself to interpret his art. He expressed his anger, his joy, his rebellion and his frustration through his clothes, his shoes and his hair.

But he was probably more honest than many of the kids he attended school or church with.

He put his thoughts out there, good or bad, and he challenged the status quo. The thing I appreciated, even in his dark days, was that he was who he was. He didn't apologize for it or want to --- even when I coerced. He was making the journey --- that IS his alone to make. He still doesn't believe everything I do. That's okay. Because there is someone who loves this kid even more than his father and I --- and HE understands my son, mister-understood, far better than you or I ever will.