My little boy.

Anyone who knows my son Rob, would know that "little" is a strange way to describe my 6'7" son of 27! But no matter how old your kids become, they are always that darling little baby to you. And Rob was definitely a little blond cutie. We use to call him Tweety Bird because his hair was so white. He is my only son, and as all boys are, a different species than his sisters. Roxi always wanted the center of my attention, as I think most first born do. Rob was more laid back. He would sit and play for hours by himself taking things apart and putting things back together. As he grew, he became very athletic, and excelled in football and basketball. He was my "golden boy". He had lots of friends, some of which he followed into trouble. From his college days on, Rob has seemed to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some problems he brought on himself by partying too hardy, but other times it just seemed like a dark cloud was hanging over him.
Such was the case last night. Today I got a call from him to tell me that he was once again the victim of the dark cloud. He is a real estate agent in Chicago, and because the economy is so bad right now, he has to sublimate his income by working other odd jobs. Last night he was working security at Harry Carry's in Wigleyville, and after work was coming home on his bike. Thank God he was wearing his helmet. Some idiot guy jumped right in front of him in the bike path to hail a cab. With cars next to him, Rob had no where to go, and went flying over the handlebars into the street! Now since he works for himself, he has no insurance, and the health care they passed does not help him, but will only fine him. He landed on his face, and chipped a tooth, broke his nose again,
and hurt his left elbow again. All of the previous injuries were from other black cloud incidents.
Whenever I get these kind of calls, my heart sinks to my stomach as I listen to what has happened, fearing the worse. Now I know, as bad as these various calls have been, they could be so much worse. How parents ever go on living after receiving calls that their child is missing or dead, I do not know. And I pray to God, I never experience it. But nevertheless, when I hear that my little boy has been hurt, I go into Mama Bear role. My son is a great, kind, loving, honest man who has been there for me when no one else was. I want to always be there for him too. The irony, is that when one daughter and her family leave for Africa, and the other was in Florida for spring break, a parent worries for their safety, but Rob was here, working, and supposedly safe.
The most frustrating thing about being a parent is raising your children to be strong and independent, and then when they grow up and are exactly what you wanted them to be, you have no control over them, and you can't protect them, or hold them to keep them safe anymore. Tonight the Discovery Channel ran two more in their series of eleven shows on LIFE. Each show shows how different species raise their young and survive. Some just lay eggs and leave their young to fend for themselves, while others carefully protect their young with their own lives. Watching the shows, I couldn't help think about why one of my children seems to always have unlucky things happen to him, while my girls have been luckier in life. (Not that I want their luck to change! ) Does a person make their own luck? Is there really something about destiny? I tend to think, God is trying to tell Rob to depend on Him. I just pray God will take my little boy into his arms and protect him and help him to find his way and purpose. All I know is that I will never stop loving or caring for any of my children. They are my life, and when they hurt, I hurt, and I just want to hold them and protect them from the mean, cruel, cold world that is out there. So dark cloud, go blow over someone else! Robbie is a great guy that needs a little sunshine in his life again! And I could do without all the stress.