Happy Birthday Brian!

Twenty-one years ago today, Brian looked like this.

This is Brian today. I can hardly believe he’s 21 years old!

Raising him has been a challenge.

He has always been inquisitive. It was such a relief when he started nursery school because his father and I could share the responsibility of answering his questions and feeding his intellect with his teachers.

From early on Brian felt empowered to speak his mind and have his share of whatever was happening. The first week of nursery school the children learned about traffic lights. When Brian noticed that I occasionally sped up when the light turned yellow, he would say with a mix of alarm and exasperation: “Mom! Red means stop, green means go, and yellow means SLOW. DOWN.”

Brian’s always had a fair amount of self confidence, and this has gotten him into trouble from time to time. His father and stepmother once took him and their other children to a resort in Cancun. When he had a moment alone, Brian called me long distance to tell me how much fun he was having. I cautioned him that the call was going to be expensive, but he confidently assured me that “Dad and Debbie said ‘everything’s included,’ and nothing would cost extra.” Nothing I said convinced him otherwise. His father was most unhappy when the charges for that call and calls Brian made to his friends appeared on the bill at check out time.

Brian’s well read and has a wide array of interests. When he left for college I really missed our conversations – especially our talks about politics and foreign affairs. After the last presidential election he asked me “If Canadian citizens could have voted in the election which provinces do you think would have been red and which ones would have been blue?” No one else asks me questions like that.

After spending the summer living on his own in Boston, Brian’s home for a couple weeks while he prepares to spend the fall semester studying in Spain. Believe me when I say letting him go is bittersweet. He’s matured so much over the past couple of years. I know he’s ready for this adventure, but I’m going to miss him intensely.