Real Life Marble Run

Sometimes its hard for me to remember that Gabe is an engineer, a mechanical engineer...because in my mind, he's still just my first born little boy. But he did the time, he put in the work, he had the grit, he finished college and he's a real life engineer. There were times when he struggled, of course. There were times when he was barely making it through the classes, struggling with homework, real life, projects, family dynamics, personal balance and all that jazz - I know he wasn't sure how to would all pan out, and neither was I from time to time. That wasn't the big picture though and Gabe has always always been a big picture, problem solving kind of guy, he made it through just fine AND with a smile on his face.

When he was a little boy, one of his favorite toys was the Marble Run. The Marble Run came in a blue plastic suitcase type of box, with a handle and all. Inside were various tubes, chutes, funnels, connectors, and of course marbles. The idea was to build a tower, and drop a marble in the top, watch it go down to the bottom and see how many interesting twists, turns, and variations could be made on the way. Gabe (and Samuel) played with this for hours, in all honesty, it could have been their one and only toy. Gabe would sit and think and try, build, un-do, re-do, knock it down and try again and again and again. He could see the end before he even saw the beginning, he could foresee what would happen if the parts weren't in the right places, he built, thought, built, tried, laughed, cheered and then did it all again.

In some ways, it feels like Gabe has become the marble in the Marble Run as he is on this PCT adventure. He sees the end, he sees the obstacles, but he just keeps trying. Week two was not without its difficulties and a couple of set backs. Bella had an injury to her foot and had to go off trail and begin the healing process. Gabe hiked two days without her and then met up with her in Idyllwild. They were able to enjoy the town, get resupplied, meet the mayor (a dog), enjoy a hot tub, eat some great food and recharge. Unfortunately, their first resupply box got lost for a couple of days and didn't make it on time, but there was no panic on his part, he just rolled with the punches and made it work. A pretty good storm blew in with rain and snow, causing them to have to stay off trail another day - still all smiles. When it was time to hit the trail again, they chose to skip about 30 miles of trail due to dangerous conditions. He said he was bummed at first, but will come back and do those miles when he is all done, a solid decision. And I know he will.

Last week was a marble run for Gabe and Bella. Its so nice to watch him problem solve, make good, safe decisions, and soak in the moments on his trail with such a humble, graceful attitude. Gabe has the 30,000 foot view, he sees the end before he sees the beginning, he is a problem solver both by nature and in training, He knows what to do to reach his goals, he has the grit, he has proven it time and time again in life and on trail.

There's probably nothing more rewarding as a parent than to see your child happy. The smiles I see on his face in the photos that are shared are absolutely priceless. They're a completely different kind of smile, a smile I have rarely seen on him, a smile that now seems to be a daily occurrence. He has his trail, his partner, his new friends, he has problems to solve and that seems to be what drives him after all.

I still have the Marble Run game, in the blue plastic suitcase, on the top shelf in the closet. I look at it and remember how many times I picked up the pieces out of the floor, the hours I sat in the floor with him, testing out all of the "what if's"......Mom, mom, mom....what if we put the spinny thing here and the loop here and what if we........I remember the smile on his face when his marble would make it successfully to the bottom - its the same smile he has now. Now he has it all figured out, and I have the joy of sitting back and watching Gabe walk.