From boy to man.

For those of you unfamiliar with Thomas the Tank Engine, he lives in the Island of Sodor with his train friends and has all sorts of adventures as he works the line on the railway conducted by Sir Topham Hatt. In our house the Island of Sodor is located in the basement in the form of two train tables designed to contain the railway. However, I recently noticed the island is shifting...

It began with just a few trains venturing off the island and taking up residence in the family room. I would return the trains to the island at night, but mysteriously the trains would migrate the next day.

Pretty soon trains with tankers, freight cards, coaches, and engines began circling my kitchen floor on a regular basis.

Before I knew it a station "popped" up on my kitchen table, making dinner time a bit of a challenge. Every morning and afternoon as I went about my business in the kitchen/family room area of my home, Mark would be continually re-setting his trains, putting different engines, coaches and freight cars together, while quietly telling the trains a story about what they were doing and where they were going. It was endearing. Thomas the Tank Engine has been Mark's friend and love for two years now. Not a day has gone by the the last two years that he has not been conducting business on the rails. But I am afraid Thomas' time may be short. Mark is getting older, and I know that in time Mark's interest in Thomas will wain, as he finds new toys and stories to love, on par with his developing mind and body. Thomas will not get the daily attention he gets now. It will only be occasionally, until Mark reaches the point that Thomas is for "babies," a day that will bring sadness to my heart as I pack up the Thomas trains, and put them away for when Mark is much older and wants to recapture his youth.

Until then Thomas may inhabit my kitchen table, my kitchen floor, my family room, because I want to enjoy the remaining few moments of my little boy, before he becomes a man.