Happy Birthday Drew
Better late than never. The boys actually turned ten on March 4th. But life intervened so I’m just now getting around to writing their birthday tributes.
As you turn ten years old, it’s hard for me to believe you’re more than halfway to adulthood. It seems like only yesterday I was cleaning smooshed peas off your little chin and changing your dirty diapers. (Yes, Drew. We mothers do write these things to embarrass our children. I fully intend to read my unedited journal as a tribute to you at your wedding complete with a slide show to illustrate each point….. You’re welcome my little sweetykins.)
You’ve done a lot of growing in the last year and I don’t just mean those pants I keep buying that grow too small in just a month or two. Just last year, you finally realized that the dog needs fed occasionally. Granted, you still want to offer her the asparagus and lima beans off your own plate so I’m not sure how altruistic you’re being. But you do now take responsibility for feeding her every day, for which I’m grateful.
In the last year, we’ve had a lot of fun. When we went to Hilton Head beach this summer, you longed for a boogie board to ride the waves. When you saw the price tag, I could see your yearning war with your hesitation to spend the money.
“Mom, I really don’t need that,” you said. The longing in your voice told me different. The happy look on your face alone would have made spending the money worthwhile. But the true joy was watching your intensity in mastering the new skill and your pride when you could ride a wave all the way to shore without toppling into the water. No matter how old you get, I hope you never forget that kind of joy.
I also hope you never lose the joy you’ve found in reading. In the Fall last year, you discovered the Harry Potter series. I think you were first motivated to try them because the school assigned the books a high point value which really pushed up your reading grade. But from the first page, you were fascinated, reading the whole series in a little over two weeks.
I loved the way you didn’t want the fantasy to end. You found a stick in the yard and made it into a magic wand. Then you spent the next week casting pretend spells over your brother and sister. Even though I admired your creativity, I did have to get on you for trying to turn your sister into a warty frog.
In this last year, we’ve weathered some bad times too. Right around your tenth birthday, my grandmother passed away at the age of 94. In your lifetime, you’ve seen her go from an energetic white-haired woman who played kick ball with you to the frail old lady who couldn’t get out of her hospital bed. Because she lived next door, she’s been a constant presence in your life.
Even though I planned my words carefully all day while you were at school, when the time came to tell you she was gone, nothing came out except tears. But you understood as soon as I said it was about great-grandma. You knew she’d gone to heaven and you started crying too.
“I’m going to miss her too,” you said as we hugged each other. “Every day, I’ll miss her,” you added. You understood and you made me feel I wasn’t so alone in my grief.
I appreciate the way that you always seem to “get it” even though you’re still young. Your third grade teacher marveled at the way you would always get her subtle humor, laughing when no one in the classroom understood the joke. You have such a wonderful sense of humor and many times I’ve caught your eye and we’ve shared a private smile at some sarcastic barb no one else got.
You continue to grow and I see subtle glimpses of the wonderful man I know you will someday be. I can’t wait to see where life will take us in this next year. Happy Birthday!
