15 years, 4 months.
Dear Jack,
Your sister specifically wanted there to be an avocado piñata for her 10th birthday party. Mommy recruited you and Papa to not only hang it out on the tree in our backyard, but also to man the station while we took turns hitting it.
And of course, as I predicted, once it finally got burst open, you took it upon yourself to smash the remains of it to smithereens!
Love,
Daddy
10 years old tomorrow!
Dear Holly,
Normally I would write you a letter on your actual birthday, but this year is different and special… because Mommy and I are taking you to go see Russell Dickerson in concert on your actual 10th birthday tomorrow.
And I’m not exaggerating when I say that Mommy literally bought the tickets for this 6 months ago! So yeah… the two of you have been looking forward to this and talking about this for a long time.
It will be my honor to serve as your chauffeur for the event.
Oh, right… this is your “double digits” birthday. This is officially you entering the “tween” years.
But we won’t talk about that!
I love you, Holly!
Love,
Daddy
Two weeks ago today, on Easter, I turned 44 years old.
While I am very happy to be alive and so grateful for all I have, I admit that ultimately my immediate thought when I woke up that morning was, “I’m… not… young.”
Apparently I said that out loud, to which I was told, “Remember, you’re only has old as you feel.”
So then, out of curiosity, I had to ask myself without thinking about it: “How old do I feel?”
The response in my mind: “Late twenties? Maybe… 29?”
I then began exploring the reason why my subconscious had decided that despite having a body that was born in 1981, and having a brain full of memories and experience going back for 44 years, I instinctively “feel” 29 years old.
Then it hit me: Oh, age 29 was a very specific, life-changing year.
Not only did I become a parent for the first time, but that was also the age when I moved from Nashville to my hometown, only to have to move back after 9 months of us going through all of our savings due to a lack of jobs, then having to return to Tennessee and ask for our old jobs back. Ultimately, I was a first-time parent who led my family to unofficial bankruptcy.
Uh… trauma much?
I realized during these past two weeks, that in a form of self-preservation, half of my brain got “frozen” back in 2010 at age 29; the other half powered through years of working our way out of debt and raising not only our first child, but another one as well. Not to mention, grinding through years of experience to build my career.
Apparently, this revelation was further realized in that I just binged every episode of the popular show, Severance. I think I “severed” the part of my brain that was the fun, adventurous, and uninhibited half- in an effort to power through the next 15 years.
But now, after nearly a year of having successfully moved back to my hometown in Alabama, this second time around, it’s like I woke up from my self-preservation mode. The two parts of my brain have now combined and I see my life from the full perspective:
I get to enjoy my life now. It was a challenging 15 years for me.
But now, I have been married nearly 17 years, and my wife and I have raised a 14 year-old son and a 9 year-old daughter.
I am 44 years old, but I feel 29…. again.
9 years old.
Dear Holly,
Exactly a week ago for your 9th birthday, you chose to have your birthday dinner at Toke, where you could get some sushi. (I didn’t even know what sushi was when I was nine!)
Then we came back to our house to enjoy Nonna’s homemade strawberry cake you requested.
The birthday celebration will continue this week, as you have requested to go to Build-A-Bear.
You certainly have no shortage of stuffed animals, especially if we are including Warmies.
But, you are still a kid, and I love to watch you enjoy things that are for kids, while you still are one!
Love,
Daddy
8 years, 6 months.
Dear Holly,
With your brother’s birthday, Papa’s birthday, and your cousin Darla’s birthday all being within about a week of each other, it has been a marathon of birthdays leading up to Thanksgiving next week.
And while that has always been the case, the difference is now we live in the same town as Papa and your cousin Darla.
So that means for the first time, our family of 4 is able to celebrate each other’s birthdays together; as a family of ten.
Now we can just all meet up in the middle of the week.
This concept is finally starting to set in. It’s a really nice change.
Love,
Daddy
Family Friendly Daddy Blog 