If You Build, It will Come

I was in the car with my son today. He is turning three next week. There are various trucks parked on the road we pass daily. And construction workers. They are laying water pipes so there's a lot of digging going on, not to mention traffic. It's a good thing I'm not driving.

He asks a gazillion times, "What's that?" and I promptly give one-word answers like "soil", "pipes", "crane" obviously not paying attention to what interests him. If you're around this boy everyday, construction terms are a regular part of the conversation. Normally, I would be fascinated when he suddenly screams "Mom, a flat-bed truck!" because trucks look all the same to me. Unfortunately, I was thinking of something else this morning. But it doesn't escape his sensitive radar. So he blurts out "I need to push the soil," immediately followed by "but I have to grow up first." So now he has my attention. It suddenly occurs to me that he is three and growing up faster than I can say "cherry picker truck".

My mind wanders. I see him with a hard hat, on the top floor of an unfinished building in a vastly undeveloped land that is to become another city. Will he be one of the workers having lunch while sitting on one of those metal bars? Will he be driving a bulldozer to "push the soil"? Will he be calculating the load that walls can bear and signing blueprints? I smile at that last thought. My father is an engineer and I had always dreamed of becoming an architect. But I was dissuaded from pursuing a man's profession. So I took up Business, a practical course, and was fortunate to have worked in a creative field for many years, albeit on the management side. Eventually, I studied Interior Design which I happily practiced before I had children. I'm blessed to have part of my dream fulfilled somehow. Others don't get a second chance.

I hold my son's hand. It is big and he has a strong grip. He could use it well for holding tools. Or drafting, if he is inclined to do that. I tell myself to be aware and to do everything I possibly can to help him find what he's meant to do. So I say, "Maybe we could dig in the garden sometime. Would you like that?" He nods. "Okay, I'll get some pipes and we could lay that just like those men. You need to wear a hard hat though." He beams. The thought excites me. Finally, I have something in common with my little boy. I can't wait to see where his dreams will take him. But right now, we just have to start building.