THE PRINCELY SON

The King may be dead, but the Prince is alive and well. In other words: Elvis may have been King, but it's my son who is a Prince. And why not? I handed him life on a silver platter, didn't I?? And let me just tell you... I haven't had a single regret about it, either.

As promised, my son and I had a simply fabulous time together this weekend. True, he arrived later than expected, but the important thing was, his plane DID arrive. And, by now... his plane has departed. Damnit.

I so hate when he leaves. When I wrap my arms around him for the last good-bye hug and kiss, it's like a bit of me is leaving as well. He, of course, is looking forward to returning to his apartment, friends, graduate classes, etc. I on the other hand, am looking forward to wanting to go put my head in a vise. Well, okay. Not quite that bad, but almost.

I loved every song we sang to the personally mixed CD's I keep in my car. (long ago, I taught him to love every rock and roll song I did!) We buzzed all around the city singing along to Bono, Wynonna, Cher, Fats, Billy, Tina and Elton. We visited friends and family. We ate some delicious foods and best of all, he made for me, a couple of 3 dimensional puzzles of world famous monuments. A trick I learned way back when: Keep his hands busy, and you keep his heart happy. I have several of his creations in my house, including a couple of his absolutely fantastic pieces of pottery. We also had many great laughs while listening to Howard Stern on the Sirius Radio he brought to me the last time he was here. Naturally, I gave him my ususal edict to stay away from emotional and/or behavioral whack jobs and to always, ALWAYS wear a condom. I also reminded him never to marry a woman who isn't wildly crazy about me.

One of the best parts about my son is that he is so much like me. And, trust me... I love myself a lot. Which only means, I love him MORE. Afterall, what could possibly be better than spending time with me?? Or, as in this case, with a clone of me. Besides, we really do have FUN being together. I remember going to his graduation last May. He took me to something he'd always wanted to see, yet never had. He took me to... ready for this?... a Monster Truck Jam at the Ocala Speedway. SO not a place I ever imagined I'd be, let alone enjoy. But... as it happened, we really did have a lot of fun. Score 700 points for the Cooperative Mother.

Anyway, my son is probably the finest piece of work I ever created. He can make me nuts at times, yes; but it's well worth it, given he can also make me very very proud. Am so telling you.... this kid is a prince of a guy.