You Capture: Faces

This is a picture of Gabriel basking in the late afternoon sun as we sit waiting out front of the high school for my daughter to finish track practice. Nearly everyday within a half hour of Gabe getting off the school bus we pile into our minivan to bring his brother to wrestling practice and pick up his sister. Some days this entails a five minute wait, and some days up to an hour!! I have decided to just give in and cherish this time with him. He enjoys hopping into the front seat as soon as I park to get a good view of all. He knows many of the high school boys and loves to call out to them and wave as they too arrive for practice. He is very talkative and will give me many details, far more than any of my others, about his day at school as well as his hopes and dreams for the future. Seriously. The boy is a chatter box, sometimes very random, but always well thought out. One day we watched a sad drama unfold, as a troubled teenage girl had an argument with the principal, as she stormed out of the school swearing and lit up a cigarette. Eventually she was picked up by the police and her grandfather after she stomped off of school grounds in nothing but pajama pants and a light sweatshirt. Part of me wanted to go after her and offer help, knowing a little of her background. Gabe was mesmerized as I tried to explain some of the pain this delinquent teen was going through. He told me that she needed to make good choices, and that when he was at school he would think of what me and his Daddy would do in different situations. "I want to be like you guys, because I love you" . "That's how I decide what to do". Wow. What a gift that was on a cold winter afternoon.