The Return

The Boy is home for the break, having finished (and thrived in) his first semester of college. He’s busily assembling his social calendar for the break, and we’re already back into “who takes which car where and when?” mode.

He’s very much himself, and yet, I see a difference. The most obvious one is politics.

When he was still home full-time, he was, by far, the least political person in the house. When discussions turned to politics, or when someone would watch a political show, he’d leave the room. The only issue that I saw him respond to in any significant way was gun control, largely as a result of the Parkland massacre. Other than that, though, he mostly tuned politics out.

So I was surprised when, a month or so into college, he texted us that he had joined the College Democrats. And a month or so after that, when he texted me midday to report that Netanyahu had been indicted. And now that he’s glued to the TV, watching the impeachment hearings and trying to decide whether he prefers Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.

Part of me wants to ask, “Who are you, and what have you done with TB?”

He voted last month, and he’s chomping at the bit to vote in 2020.

I’m happy to see him take a new interest in the world, but I’ll admit that the speed of it was surprising. He went from seeing politics as an inexplicable fascination of nerdy adults to something urgent, relevant and personal.

Maybe he just needed a little distance first.

I remember the odd feeling of coming up for air after months away at college. (Admittedly, my case was extreme, because Mom moved to a different state during my first semester. Luckily, she let me know the address.) The return to what felt like the civilian world came with a slightly shifted perspective. It all seemed a little less inevitable, a little more chosen. It felt like one option among many, rather than the way things had to be.

Being surrounded at college by people who aren’t especially political, he suddenly didn’t have to claim individuality by rejecting politics. He could decide for himself what he cared about. Suddenly it didn’t involve caving to Mom and Dad.

And, of course, politics these days lend themselves to morbid fascination. There’s that.

I want his world to be as big as it can be, and I want him to feel like he has agency in shaping it. He’s the one who will have to live in it, so it seems only fair. He wants that, too.

Here’s hoping he pushes the world more in a direction worthy of him. We’d all benefit.

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Wishing a restful break and joyous holidays to my wise and worldly readers, I’ll be focusing on family for the next couple of weeks. See you in 2020!