A Glimpse of Austin

Today I got up early and tip toed around the house, mending ends and odds, adhering to my morning ritual.  Austin and 2 of his cousins (Kaelina and Emily) are sleeping on the couch, I suspect they'll be there for a great deal of the morning as they had a late night.  As I enter tags from last night, Austin rolls over and his blanket loses grip of him and shows his knees.  Horribly filthy knees.  I quickly recollect his day time activities from yesterday, a trip to the pond, work on the tree fort, helping his Papa with trailer work (in the dark) and I can't seem to help myself from smiling.

His face is reminiscent of his stage of infancy, a transformation that only happens during sleep.  12 years of becoming Austin, has made him incapable of hiding his emotions (that are nearing the oh so dreaded teens) during his awake hours, undeniably showing his age in progress.  Feeling a bit lost in the state of pride, I glance once again to his knees.  As they are, at this moment in time, my fixation.  Not only are they dirty and grimy looking, but there is something else to them that holds my attention.  They appear larger, almost as if they are too big for his body.  Built to hold a man who isn't quite there.

The realization of it all is almost frightening.  All too many are the times that I see glimpses of the man that Austin will become,  his age being a clear indicator that time is running out.  That soon the days/moments that are taken for granted will slip through my fingers and his childhood will have made it's course into our memories.  It's that slight tilt of the head, that shows his future broad nose.  Or that look of determination that ages his eyes, just a bit.  The way he words his sentences that encourages those near to take him seriously and treat him as an equal.  And those knees; those strong,  worked knees that will carry him into his adult life.  The ones reminding me now, that today is yet another day that nears us closer to his adulthood.