One day with my son

By Ella Rose Felton

If I could go back in time, I would go back to the year 1995 to spend a day with my son, Anthony Lenell Felton. Anthony was killed in our front yard that year by a stray gunshot. The reason why I would like to visit with Anthony that day is to tell him I love him. I envision that what we would do that day is visit a gym for boxing, go to a McDonald's for lunch, and spend time just talking.

Boxing was one of Anthony's favorite pastimes. Even at eight years of age, Anthony had already won nine trophies. He boxed at parks, schools, practice gyms-in fact, any place that his coach could find. Therefore, we would find a gym so Anthony could box, and I could watch.

At midday, Anthony would probably want to go to a McDonalds for lunch. We would do so for two reasons. First, Anthony loved double cheeseburgers there. He also loved to jump in the balls, slip down the slide, and ride on the horses. In addition, I would enjoy watching Anthony play, and I could take photographs of him and the other children and McDonalds' playground.

I imagine that Anthony and I would have lots of conversations during the day. Since Anthony spent much of his brief time on earth in school, we would talk about how he was doing in class. I would compliment him again on the good grades he always got. I would encourage him about how to interact with girls since he needed to learn that girls might need different treatment than boys. Finally, Anthony and I would discuss what he wanted to do when he got older.

All in all, my day with my son would be the greatest pleasure imaginable to me. Because of no fault of his own, Anthony did not get to grow up nor I to be with him through the years. Obviously I deeply wish I could see him just this one more time.