The Answer to How Is Yes: Photos of My In-Between Son

My son Nicholas turns 15 at the end of September, which is just ridiculous.

In some ways he retains the pure innocence and excitement of a little boy. In others he has already taken on the weight of an adult.

I kind of sort of wish he hadn’t done so yet, even as he consciously, purposefully offers support and love to people, including and especially me. It is beautiful. It has gifts. It reflects his strength. It has a cost.

Nicholas, with OCD as part of his autism as well as a full co-diagnosis, cares deeply that everything is just right, just the way things are supposed to be.

For people, it means he cares that they—they being everyone—are well and happy. That’s the way they’re supposed to be.

You’re supposed to be. So let’s get it right, people.

Nicholas’ values here reflect my own, maybe with a touch more confidence in his ability to help shape things into the way they’re supposed to be: good, well, and happy. And, reflecting these values and this essence, love imbues everything my son does.

Capturing this liminal time in different ways, keeping and holding it close, feels so very valuable. These in-between years—maybe just months to go before this period passes, at any time, poof—are precious and ephemeral: like the end of summer.

Here’s the past month—August and maybe going out another week into July—of memorable pics of Nicholas. Memorable for me, anyway, because I want to remember and hold onto this time with him and these moments.

Note: the first part of this blog post’s title—The Answer to How Is Yes—is the title of a Peter Block book. I interviewed Peter for New Age Retailer magazine. He is an organizational consultant in Cincinnati whose work is rich, human-centric, and entirely compelling. I love the book title, and today it reminded me so much of my son.

So I stole it. Enjoy the pics.

IMPORTANT: Click on any one photo to open them all in a much more attractive slider, and then you should also have the option, if you’re on desktop or tablet, to open each one at full size. Some work much better visually at the larger sizes. And thank you for visiting the site today.