Dante's first temple trip

Today Dante went to the temple for the first time, and I did not get to go with him. Aaron had a few things to do today that I didn't know about and he always stays home so I can do stuff so I figured that to be fair (and avoid sour feelings) I'd just drop him off at the ward and let him go on his own. It was probably for the best because as much as I wanted to be with him, I would probably have hovered, and he wouldn't have been able to fully experience it with his Young Men's group like he got to tonight. When I dropped him off, I watched how one of the older boys came over and shook his hand and greeted him, and was impressed with the amount of respect he seemed to have for Dante. It always awes me to see him the way others see him (not as a child but as a reverent young man with a pure and simple faith) and I realize that he is among friends and he's safe, and respected, and feels comfortable in his skin with them, which is all a mother can really ask for her child. I see in him some of the qualities that I see in some of the leaders of our church, and I see that people listen to him and consider what he has to say, and I see the smallest glimpse of what kind of a man he can be, and maybe I feel just the tiniest bit like Marry did when she watched our Savior growing into a man...just the smallest fraction of what she must have felt as she watched him with wonder, knowing he would do great things but not knowing what they would be. Maybe all mothers do that.