My Fair Haired Boy

"Oh my fair-haired boy, no more I'll see you walk the meadows green;

Or hear your song run through the fields like yon mountain stream.

Your ship waits on the western shore to bear you o'er from me;

But wait I will till Heaven's door-my fair-haired boy to see." (From a song set in the 19th century during the Irish famine telling the sorrow of parting.)

Preston was my fair-haired boy though he was born with coal-black hair. Among the black was a spot of silver the size of a half-dollar. When his hair grew back after he lost his baby hair, it was the most amazing golden blonde. (I can't find the picture I want showing this. On the right above he is learning to walk at age one with the help of Kari & Doug. On the left he is standing behind me on the porch at Tuck Corner when he was seven.)

I was reminded of Preston's hair while watching the Ellen Degeneres show last week. She has a segment where she shows embarrassing pictures from childhood alongside what the people look like now. One of the pictures was of a man when he was two or three years old. He had three older brothers and his mom wanted a girl when he was born. She let his hair grow long, put him in a dress and had his picture taken.

I am guilty of doing something similar - although not for that reason. I did it for $$$ and because of being a 'stage mom'.

I was working at Thomas Wolffe & Assoc. Advertising Agency when Preston was a baby. Tom was filming a tv spot for the Iowa Bankers Assoc. They wanted to represent a young family with a baby just learning to walk. They wanted a little girl but hadn't found the right toddler.

In addition to being golden, Preston's hair was also curly. It was so pretty. I just couldn't bear having it cut. He was a little over a year old and just beginning to take his first steps. Perfect for the tv ad, but, alas, a boy. Hold on. I still had his older sister's clothes.

Yes, in my little boy's first tv commercial he is wearing a red velvet dress which perfectly highlights his lustrous blonde curls. If we had a clip of that commercial, we could see him toddling toward his 'parents' - taking his, oops, her first steps.

Fortunately Preston was too young to remember any of this. The only pictures I had were slides and since we didn't have a projector, he never saw them. i.e. I didn't damage him for life. (I hope!)

My fair haired boy has grown up to be a son any mother would be proud of. He has always had a tender heart. When he was little any news stories of people suffering affected him deeply. (There is a German word for this: Weltschmerz-- sadness over the evils of the world.) He may try to hide it, but a mother knows the true heart of her children.
Preston always loved being outdoors. I suspect that even though he is not a hunter - an outdoorsman - he still feels most connected when he is in a field or the woods or walking along the shore.
My baby is helping raise five of his own. His first born is graduating high school this year. As Ki goes out into the world, I know Preston will be remembering his own first year of college - the excitement and the fears. He wasn't able to go right through college in four years, but he set a good example by going back years later to get his associate degree and then his bachelor's. That couldn't have been easy. I don't think I ever told him how proud I am of him for doing that.

Oh, my fair-haired boy, how glad I am to see you walk the meadows green.....