This Guy.

Every year when birthdays come along, I pause and reflect. My own birthday doesn't bother me much, but the birthdays of my kids make me physically feel the rotation of the earth. It moves so crazy-fast!

My son, Adam, is 27 years old today.

I suppose I could tell you about all the great ways he's grown into the man he is today. (And he has.)

But, honestly, as his mom, the first thing that comes to mind is how he can still shoot me that "surely you can't stay mad at me" look. And it works. Just like it did when he was a little guy.

He still has the ability to make me laugh when he says, "Hi, mom!" It's just the way he says it that hasn't changed in all these years. He might as well be 10 years old and jumping into the car when I picked him up from school.

I can still predict many times how he will react to something, or exactly what he will say.  I can tell by the sound of his voice if he is happy, or in pain. Because I've been listening (really listening) to those inflections in his voice for the past 27 years.

As much as I love the many wonderful qualities this guy has developed as he's grown up, it's the little ways that he's remained the same that make this mother's heart melt. I love so much that he and I have forged a real relationship that's been tried by fire and survived.

I appreciate his tenacity, his sense of humor, his tender heart. Ironically, those are the very same things that I appreciated about six year old Adam.

Happy Birthday, my son.

Live long, and prosper.

And may God continue to bless you this day and every day.

“May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.” ~Irish proverb

Always There

I sometimes wonder how he puts up with me, but he does. I think it makes him a little crazy when I stop in the middle of whatever we're doing and pull out my camera to take a picture. Right. Now.

It's a side-effect of blogging, I guess. A good one. I'm much more attuned to the narrative of our lives and therefore more inclined to document the moments that would otherwise be fleeting memories.

But my husband, Eric, likes to stay in the background. In fact, he's perfected the art of being a background character in our lives, photographically speaking.

He's gotten so good at this that we have officially named him Casual Photobomb Guy.

Notice where he is in each one of these photos:

Come to think of it, it's like a metaphor for his position towards us. He's always there for us. Always the guy in the background, taking care of his wife and kids. Never being in the limelight. Always just making sure we're okay.

And for this we desperately love and appreciate him. Today is Casual Photobomb Guy's birthday. Today we're going to make sure we put him right in the center of a white hot spotlight. And there will be cake!

Happy Birthday, Eric!