I throw out a couple ideas and questions and am met with
…
Deathly quiet
…
For many
Long
Minutes
Interrupted only by his nervous giggles
At my increasingly tear-stained, frustration-strained voice
Struggling mightily not to conflate his inaction with his dad’s
As we sit together failing to unearth what he sees
As his strengths and leadership qualities and growth stories
And interests and potential paths
All he knows is the ones he doesn’t want to take.
I can lead a man to brainstorm, but I can’t make him think…
Nor can I make him see and articulate the laid-back wonder of who he is.

Later, I try and mostly fail to wax poetic
As my favorite enby interrupts each spark of a thought
With endless details they are unearthing
About libraries
And cute animals in parks
And weather norms
And “Wow, this city has a climate plan!”
And “This state has the least cockroaches of any state!”
In the place that houses one of the potential homes they’re dreaming toward
That they discovered on the coattails of their brother’s college search.
And I marvel at the driven wonder of who they are.