I can't really explain why, but Brian has been one of William's favorite people since before he could talk.
Sometimes I think it's because Brian was present in William's life at a time when he really needed him. When Brian arrived in Colorado in 2011 William hadn't really interacted with a male in about 3-4 months. After Austin left we didn't have much free time socially and when we did see people it was usually my girl friends. William did great with me and great with my friends (and he didn't talk which meant even if he hated every minute of it he couldn't tell me so…ah, the memories) But when Brian walked through our door for the first time William instantly lit up. Brian stayed with us for about three weeks while he house-hunted and bought his first house, so the bond continued to build daily. From then on his entire face and demeanor changed whenever Brian was around. William and I both began to count down the days and hours until Sundays when Brian would come over for football. I got a break, and William got some time with his best buddy.
It's hard for me to really remember, but the first few months of this bond were entirely unspoken. William had very few words (very VERY hard to remember) and Brian's name was not one of them. He could say "book" or "more" or "please" or "ball" - beyond that, their interaction was entirely non-verbal. But it was a special bond that you could see growing and words just somehow weren't necessary.
Once he did start to talk he refused to say Brian's name. I still don't know why, but I think it became somewhat of a game. He just never said it! Then one day in October when we were all in Texas Brian was frustrated and yelled out "Oh GOSH!" in an effort to avoid saying a curse word. William clued in immediately and yelled "ohhhhhh GOOOOOOSH" and everyone laughed.
That was it. From then on, he was uncle oh gosh. William did learn his name - after all, I had referred to him as Brian all that time - but he never calls him Brian. It's just oh gosh, and that bond has never wavered despite the miles apart. If I could turn back time I would have been sure to have my cell phone ready for their reunion in Texas when we flew down for Thanksgiving.
We had arranged our flights so that we landed about an hour before Brian. My mom, Alfredo, Brandon, Dana and the kids all got gate passes to go through security and meet us. Brandon had special "welcome home" shirts made so we all matched and we had our own little welcome home ceremony at the airport. Welcome home ceremonies are often more special for the families than the soldiers, and if that's true in this case it's just fine with me. It was wonderful for us all to be able to welcome him home in style like that.
When Brian FINALLY walked out of the gate William wasted no time - I saw Brian for half a second and then all of a sudden I saw William jumping into his arms. if you know William you know he's reserved with his affection and he really saves it for special moments. He doesn't give hugs out like candy on halloween that's for sure. But he made it into Brian's arms faster than I could even register it happening. The rest of the week William was living the high life. He had all of his favorite people in one place - he truly adores all of his grandparents, uncles, his favorite aunt (only one, for now) and his cousins. But let's be honest - he was living the high life mostly because he had oh gosh there.
Maybe it was the influential stage of his life which built the strong bond. Or maybe it's just something special they share that's unexplained. After all, the first time he saw him when he was 9 months old he crawled right up to him and tried to climb up his legs. Prime stranger-danger time for a baby, and being cautious as he was, he never went up to new people like that. But he sure seemed to already know and love his uncle. I don't think I could love watching their bond more than I do.
Now if only his uncle had remembered to say "oh GOSH" over thanksgiving instead of teaching William his first curse word. Lord, I don't think I've wanted to punch someone (Brian, not William) harder than when I heard that word come out of his sweet little mouth...
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