Black

My 11 year old son’s favorite color is black. I know this because it has always been black. While other kids liked pink or blue or yellow. Ch@rlie has liked black since he could say it. He never wavered. He's stubborn like some of his parents. He's a middle child.

I love color. I love it so much I could call it Colour, but I wont, because that would be sickening.

I like to look at Red.

My wife likes yellow.

I could never get enough of Ch@rlie liking Black. I’d take him to BBQ's and when some know-it-all-kid/Parent combo tried to wow the crowd by counting to ten in Spanish, I'd have Ch@rlie announce his favorite color while pumping the beer keg for me. I could feel the jealous marveling of the other Dad's and felt cooler than the kids in Denim Jackets who used to smoke cigarettes on the bus platform. My boy was only four or so at the time. How proud am I?

So a few weeks ago I asked him what his favorite color was. I hadnt asked him in years and wanted a reminder of why I love this guy. “Green”, he said. What the hell is that?

Sigh.