A boy and his appetite

Dear Lord, my nephew can eat! Now a freshman in high school, he's tall and thin as a rail and always, always hungry. It's as though his appetite is a motor roaring inside of him.


We met for lunch today and he had three slices of thin crust pizza, an order of fries and three mini candy bars.* He practically inhaled all of it. I was stunned.

He's also growing a beard. A straggly, awful looking thing. He seems quite proud of it.

He's also still completely into his classes. He loves high school so much and it's all about the learning, not the grades. I know from my sister that he's been on the honor roll, but he never mentioned his marks once today. He wants to be a middle school or high school history teacher. He admits that he and his classmates can be jerks, but confesses he has no interest in or tolerance for little kids. Besides, he really appreciates the influence one of his junior high teachers had on him and wants to pay it forward.

Oh! And he's recently discovered The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Next to the Lads from Liverpool, they're now his favorite band (displacing the Rolling Stones). He also loves Queen. Naturally I approve of his taste in music.

*I gave him the three mini candy bars and a $5 bill in a small giftbox festooned with monkeys holding hearts. It's the kind of thing my mother would have done for him on Valentine's Day. They were extraordinarily close, and I was trying to fill the "grandma void." I think I done good, as he responded with the loveliest smile I saw all day.