Tooth Fairy, Busted

I wasn't there when Paul told Avery about the cancer. 

Naturally, I wondered how he reacted. 

"Well, his face had the same look on it as the day he found out there wasn't a tooth fairy" s

aid the Master of Understatement.  

But then it all came back to me. 

A prominent debate between pre-school Believers and Disbelievers, 

when questioned, I mechanically fell back on my mother's answer. 

"Well, I believe in [fill in the blank] "  

That worked until second grade, 

the day the Tooth Fairy slept in.  

Once busted, she spitefully took down the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus with her.

The whole think fell like Dominoes,

the last one being that parents were Big, Fat, Total Liars.

Recently in a quiet moment Avery shared his perspective about the Cancer. 

I bet it pretty much summed up his take on The Tooth Fairy thing, too.  

"Things are really different now, aren't they?"  

I explained that the good/bad news is that we're not destitute enough to get assistance 

but if we do get destitute, there's assistance. 

That we won't go hungry but may have to acquire a taste for government cheese. 

That we will probably get to keep our house. 

And if we lose it all, we will get to start all over on a New Adventure!







He offered to cover his own expenses, starting with school clothes. 

A few weeks into 16 and he's already supporting himself on a seasonal job at El Berto's Taqueria.

I'm soothed by the gesture and the thought of guacamole until October. 

I think back to how well he manned up to take care of the farm 

for the 3 days his Dad was unexpectedly hospitalized in Ann Arbor. 

A series of unfortunate events unfurled as a consequence:

the cancellation of the final test to get a driver's license; 

and even worse, a ferocious thunderstorm on the pasture that killed his smart phone. 

A 16-year old without a cell phone? 

Spurning our empty house and the law, 

he drove unlicensed to cousin Anna and Zoe's doorstep. 

When Anna called me at the hospital he was snuggled on the couch with Zoe 

and a bowl of chicken noodle soup, 

watching a movie.  

This mother of a law breaker 

breathed a sigh of relief 

and gratitude.