Pink Socks

With October coming to a close and cancer awareness programs coming to an end, there is a boy who continues the awareness of the importance.

Just this past Thursday, I watched my son as he walked up the street to the bus stop four houses away.  I couldn't help but notice that he was still wearing this pink cancer awareness socks.  Now, I know that you are thinking how could I see his socks.  Remember that I live in North Carolina, and the boys down here wear shorts all year long - Michael  included.

After the bus drove down the street, turned around in the cul-de-sac, and left our village of Carlisle; I sat down with my coffee and thought about that moment.  Trying to watch Good Morning America, all I could think about was that pair of pink socks and why he's still wearing them.

Obviously, he knows that October is over.  Football season is over and he doesn't need them for anymore games.  It consumed me for the rest of the day.  All day long, I would think about how often he was wearing these socks.  It came to me that he wears the solid pink with white ribbon and the solid white with pink ribbon every single week.

The second he walked in the door, I had to ask.  His answer was this.  " I wear them because I don't want people to forget about other people who have cancer.  It's because Mommy has cancer and I want to support her."

We have talked to him about her situation, and allowed him to ask any questions that he felt he needed understanding with.  We were very open and honest about every aspect of cancer.  However, we asked him what he knew about cancer.  He explained that people get sick, their hair might fall out, they go to the hospital a lot, and that they die.

He is very well aware that his mother is sick and just how incapacitated she really is.and that she may never be the same again.  He prays for her all the time.  He is concerned about her and that her voice has changed, and that she has to go to bed early to gain some strength.  He's not afraid of her and her altered mental status - he's afraid that he just might not every see the woman he knows as mom again.

He comes into our bedroom at night, hugs us and kisses us. But, there is now a new feel to his hugs with her.  They last longer, they look more compassionate, his eyes tell a story when he looks at her.  You can see the love he has for her and the fear that he may not have her around.

Those pink socks are his way of dealing with things.  They represent his fight in the war against cancer.  Those pink socks give him comfort, hope and show the world that he is standing in the gap for his mom.  They are also a way for him to talk about what he's dealing with when people ask him why he's still wearing them.

That day I asked about the socks, he and I had a little falling out about wearing shorts to school in November.  Regardless of how warm it is, the weather here in NC can be fickle.  He begged me not to take away his shorts and if I did, people could not see his pink socks.

I know this might sound crazy to some people, but here it goes anyway.  My boy will be in shorts with snow on ground.  If this is his coping mechanism, and it gets him through the day because he can't express his feelings in words, but in pink socks.  WEAR YOUR SHORTS AND PINK SOCKS SON!!!!!

He is talking to his friends about a real life issue that he needs to deal with.  Yes, we have open and brutally honest conversations, but he just might need someone else to talk to.  So, if you see him wearing pink socks and it crosses your mind, pray for him, ask him about it, talk to him about it, pray with him about it.  He is an 11 year old boy who is VERY concerned for his mom.

Now, I have to find myself some pink socks also.