I caught a glimpse of the future yesterday....

We had another pet loss in our family yesterday. It was my son's hamster. He has had this hamster for over two years and was rather attached. It was not uncommon to see his hamster climbing over his shoulders or running around on his bed as he laid there watching. It was not uncommon for my son to ask for a piece of carrot, lettuce or apple as a "treat" for his buddy. Which of course, was always given.

So... in what way did I see the future? When I gave my son the news yesterday after school, he's eyes started to redden, but he shook off any "mothering" I wanted to do at that time. He squared his shoulders and said "okay... we need to bury him."

I got a box for him, we used some cotton batting and some fabric to improvise a hamster coffin. (Unfortunately, I have had practice with this.) We then went out back and got the shovel. At this point he said, "mom, I want to do this myself." I asked again if he was sure, he was positive, he wanted to do this himself. I told him to let me know if he needs help, but okay.

Well, it was not exactly easy for him, but he did it. My almost 10 year old, dug the grave (after having to tell him once that it needed to be deeper) and then put his friend to rest.

His face was wet and smeared with dirt, but he did this himself. He wanted to give this to his friend.

My heart grew warm with my love for my young man, and got a glimpse of the man he will one day be....