Things that go bump

Ben has so many fears. Some of them come from being a six-year-old boy, like his fear of the dark. Some of his fears come from being a particularly anxious six-year-old boy, like his fear of elevators.

And then there are the fears that come from his father dying when he was four. His fear of abandonment, his fear of waking up in the morning and realizing someone has gone in the night, his fear of being alone.

Ben and I are so similar and sometimes when I talk about him, I realize half-way through I’m also talking about myself. I’m not afraid of the dark though, which gives me hope that in time he’ll conquer his little-boy fears.  The big ones we’ll work on together.