Those of you who are regular readers of Sharing with Cassandra already know which one of my son’s is celebrating his 16th birthday today, November 10.
It is son number one. My husband and I affectionately call him our guinea pig son, because we learned from him how to raise or how not to raise the other boys.
I remember when he was about 1 year old. It was 10 at night and he woke up wanting some milk to drink. I looked in the refrigerator, and there was no more milk. So I gave him the next best thing, iced tea!
I love iced tea, and I thought, hey, he would too. And he did. He drank two cups and I put him back to bed.
Well, he talked and chatted to himself until about 3 a.m. I kept going in there checking on him and could not figure out why he was still awake. He finally fell asleep around 4.
The next day, I realized the caffeine in the tea kept him awake. I laughed about that the entire day.
I also remember when he was about 7 years old and he went door to door with son number two selling candy for school. One neighbor later told me that she asked him did he take check or cash.
To which he answered, “No, just money.”
As I look back on my 16 years of being a mother to son number one, I find myself in wonder. What a wonderful God I serve, who gave me such a blessing for a child.
Yes, he has his moments as any teenagers does, but those moments are few and far between.
He is an exceptional young man with a joyful spirit and a beautiful smile and I can hardly believe that he will be gone to college in just a little under 3 years.
In elementary school, he held my hand as I walked him to the bus.
In junior high, he walked a little bit ahead of me, to make sure his friends knew he was not a baby.
In high school he towers over me with a 6 foot 6 inch frame, but has not gotten too big to give me a hug everyday, as long as it doesn’t take too long.
You can teach a child a lot in 16 years. I hope we have taught him the really important things …
his faith.
to demonstrate love and humility.
a desire to forgive.
a strong work ethic.
a will to go after his dreams, no matter how big they are.
I love being a mother, it is the best position I have on Earth. I am not perfect, and I thank God that son number one knows that and loves me anyway. Who could ask for anything more?
Happy birthday, son number one – 16 … I can hardly believe it.
Next, week he gets his license, and you know I will write about that.
Thanks for sharing.