Mr. Fantastic

It's one thing to experience trauma; it's another to impress doctors in the midst of it. With a ghastly glass cut on his leg, the charming and ever eloquent Elijah had an in depth discussion of possibly genetic combinations with the doctor stitching his leg. "I'm not just saying this, but he's the best ten year old patient I've ever had," was what he told Jen.

You expect parents to pull through and be the strong ones in extreme circumstances, not the children. They are allowed a little give when it comes to such devastation, so it makes us all the more proud of them when they face it with grace. When they are aware enough to say things like, "When you said, 'Hi,' you said it differently. Why?"

The gash in his leg requires daily washing and wrapping to reduce the swelling, and he has crutches to walk around with, although the medications make him dizzy.

Children know more than we think they do, even when we do all we can to shelter them from the extremes. As long as I've known him, Elijah has had a wisdom beyond his years. You see it in his eyes, that is, if you can get past looking at his stubby nose. I hate to think it was in preparation for anything in particular, but it's come in handy this time around.