His Heart

I love my son's heart.

Every day, I get to know him a little better, and--since Vera's birth--I have seen an even more wonderful dimension of him.

I knew already that he has a caring, kind heart.  He is always very safety-conscious, warning everyone who leaves the house, "Don't fall on the ice!"  He'll even alert Michael and I to the knives on our dinner table, warning, "Sharp!" as he points at them with concern for us.  In front of the oven, he'll remind us, "Hot!"  And to each of these things, we thank him for his concern.

And I have delighted in seeing how his caring heart extends to his sister.  He has acted gentle and loving toward her from the very beginning.  He never forgets to kiss her good-bye or good-night.  And even before she was born, he was hugging my belly and would never forget to kiss my belly before bed.  All these things he initiated on his own, without prompting from us.  This is truly him, a reflection of who he is as a person, uniquely made in the image and likeness of God!

Recently, Liam did something that astounded me.  As we do every evening, all four of us had gathered in his room for Night Prayer.  During our praying of the Liturgy of the Hours, Vera began to cry, and Liam--who transitioned brilliantly from nursing the morning I went into labor to no longer nursing after that--suggested I nurse Vera and then suggested that he and Daddy get off of the rocker so that I could rock Vera on it!  I was amazed at his concern for her cries and his personal sacrifice to make her feel better.

That's another thing he says so often:  "Feel better!"  He says it all the time to anyone who is feeling less than perfect.  And he has a very natural and keen ability to sense if someone is in pain or isn't feeling well.  For example, he'll see the dry, broken skin on my winterized hands and say, "Mommy hurts?" to which I reply with affirmation and he'll say, "Aww!  Feel better, Mommy!"  And then he'll remember it the next day, examine my hands, and ask me if I feel better yet.  It's amazing!

Oh, Liam, thank you for your loving, caring heart.  Never, ever change who you are!