Marc's 17th Birthday: Our Wish is Growing to Infinity and Beyond!
by Gemma
A year ago, we were writing a birthday post in the hospital, Marc had tested positive for COVID 2 days before turning 16.
As Marc’s immune system was busy fighting COVID, an opportunistic infection took advantage of his weakened state and decided to put Marc in a critical health condition. At that time we thought “this is it” - Marc’s final chapter in life.
All our fear of living through the dreaded adolescence - the hormones, the acne and seeing our once baby becoming a grown man - immediately dissipated; our greatest wish became being given the opportunity to see Marc live through this tumultuous time.
And so, after overcoming yet again another severe health scare, it began to dawn on us that we could move on to the next step in Marc’s life and be able to suffer those hormones and that acne that we once dreaded.
Seeing all those bath products in your house can be scary. We have a 17 year old man!!
Marc will not be able to have a girlfriend, but he will be able to enjoy the affection and love of all the people who adore him; he will not enjoy a dance at the disco, but he knows how to enjoy a good party when his sister plays music and pushes his chair to dance with him; he will not experience his first hangover ... (well, that it isn’t so bad if he skips that!)
But, most importantly, he WILL be able to become a teenager, imposing his will when he doesn’t want to do something, protesting and ignoring what we say…
It may sound painful, but it really is healthy!
It could be said that we have a little 5-year-old partner-in-crime, his sister, who manages to keep him under control.
Lots of people say:
“How hard it is to have a child that always depends on you.”
After seeing him so critical, the hard part is realizing how much we depend on him.
When Marc was little, we wasted hours rambling about tomorrow, wasted hours discussing what never happened, hours that hid from us what was really happening.
Nowadays, thanks to Marc we have learned that tomorrow has already become yesterday…
…and that the present has to be lived to its full and may only then create a passionate past to remember.
And to never forget that, as John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens to you while you are busy making plans”.
So, let's live in the moment and continue to enjoy Marc's hugs, his smile, his adolescence and of course, his passion for life.