2009 Christmas Advent #11

Daniel...though he has one of the most tender hearts you can imagine, is a boy's boy/man's man. He loves deeply, is intensely loyal, treats animals with tender loving care and even has a cat named Karen (his choice)...but I'm thinking he should have been born in the Wild West. On the other hand, he would have been one of those who would have disappeared in the wild west-iness and we'd never have seen him again, but books would have been written about him, I'm sure. This picture was taken just after his 5th birthday. The following was written in a letter to my parents.

March 13, 1990

(Excerpt from letter written to Grandparents Wood)

Daniel has his mind made up that on his 8th birthday he's getting a pocketknife. He's making sure that I won't forget. (I'm hoping he will.) He reminds me daily, and drools over the pocketknife display every week at Allens. Yesterday when we were grocery shopping he excitedly dragged me over to the glass case to show me the "pocketknife" that hs his name on it. I look at the cute little knives at the top of the display trying to guess which one has the most gadgets.

"That one, I'm sure, is Daniel's ideal," I think as I look at one of them.

I was disappointed at my mother's intuition when I pointed it out and Daniel didn't even pause when he said, "No, not that one...THAT one!"

I looked at his little pointing finger...pointing at the longest switchblade I've ever seen! I look at Daniel to make sure that this sweet innocent little face is really sweet and innocent. I see visions of this very knife sticking out of Stephanie's little chest, or poking Daniel's eye out, or miscellaneous little fingers laying around the house, and I shudder. All this while Daniel is trying to make me promise that I'll get it for him for his 8th birthday.

I say something vague like, "We'll see..." and I'm saying to myself, "NO WAY! NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!!!"

Daniel is persistent and I'm saying things like, "Maybe, but we'll have to wait and see...you might change your mind...you might see something else you'll like better..."

Pretty soon he's quiet. I take a detour down the toy isle just to get his mind on something else. All is forgotten.

Then...down the juice isle he says, "Mommy?"

"Hmmmm?"

"I've changed my mind." ("Whew!" I think, "Thank you!")

" I want something else when I turn 8," says Daniel.

"Oh yeah? What do you want?" ("Anything," I pray, "Anything but a knife!")

"I decided I want a gun."

!!!