Tenacious is graduating from high school today. He is the fifth high school graduate we’ve had in the past four years. They will all be in college next year and needless to say we will be hemorrhaging cash. Tenacious has been mad at B2 ever since she told him that she was selling the house. He’s a classic teenager: laconic, and occasionally sullen.
His is the wit of the family and loves to pepper his verbal exchanges with dry, mordant humor.
Recently though he is openly sarcastic with any exchange with B2. Last night I had to gently remind him that he was to respect his mother and not give her such a hard time.
I’m trying to figure out how to approach him about our split up. I’m sure the move is stirring up a lot of emotions and because he’s lived here the longest, he has come to love this place. Also because he is still at home, he’s seen or heard some of the flair ups we’ve had.
Before they moved north, Tenacious was angry and destructive and afraid of his biological father. At age ten he would climb in bed with his mom. His first year up here was difficult. He was in sixth grade and cliques were already well established. But he found his niche, mixing it up with buddies who shared his skateboarding interests.
Recently I talked to one of B2’s closest friends, a woman who has known her for over thirty year. She knew B2 before her first marriage and told her that she was making a huge mistake. We talked about our situation and she asserted that my relationship with Tenacious saved him. I think that is an overstatement. Simply living in a quiet stable family where people treated each other with respect and decency seemed to do the trick. Everyone contributed to his turnaround, including an unlikely but great relationship with his two older step-sisters.
Today is his big day, and I’m very proud of him.