A Very Good Day

Today is Matthew's 28th birthday.  Impossible.  Matthew is my youngest child, and so that can only mean I'm moving into an age group that I'd just as soon not think about.  His birthday has been an occasion for taking a trip down memory lane as I've considered what to reveal about him today, his special day.

Matthew was born 14 months following the loss of our daughter.  He brought sunshine and joy to a very dark time.  So urgent was my needed to hold a healthy baby in my arms and to see healthy pink color that I found myself overwhelmed with emotion when I first laid eyes on him.  I was wholly unable to stop crying or even to understand what the tears were about.  They could only have been a mixture of joy and profound relief at his safe arrival.

As we listened to his incensed screaming at being yanked so rudely from the womb, I can recall my doctor commenting that Matthew was pretty insulted about being wrapped in a pink blanket.  Indeed!

If one could order certain desirable newborn characteristics from a catalog, then the newborn received would have been just like Matthew.  He was the most easy-going of newborns, sleeping for deliciously long stretches, nursing well, smiling early, easily, and often.

He was alert and curious and possessed an active imagination.  We would soon find out that keeping up with Matthew's view of the world wouldn't just involved thinking outside the box.  We would need to take two giant steps outside the box and live there with him, and I mean that in the most delightful of ways.

When we went to the grocery store, Matthew came equipped with his Ghostbusters backpack.  He preceded me at every turn of the aisle, clearing the way of ghosts and other lurking monsters.  It was always funny to see the amused looks of complete strangers as they caught on to being the beneficiaries of Matthew's safety measures.  When we went on a houseboat vacation one summer, Matthew spent the whole week with a stick stuffed down the back of his shirt, as he imagined himself a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ready for action on a moment's notice.

He was born with drumming in his soul and could at times drive us to distraction with his incessant drumming on every available surface.  No available surface?  No problem!  His own body made an excellent drum during those times.  Drumming was, and still is, his life force.  His considerable talent has served him well as a way to earn money while attending college.

He is among the most creative people I know, and his creativity will undoubtedly serve him well in his chosen field of engineering.

He has an adventurous spirit that has taken him far and wide.  He has embarked on journeys that would be disquieting for those of us bogged down by sound reasoning.  As his mother, I'm grateful that he usually reserves sharing those outings with me until he's already out of harm's way . . . like the time he went sky-diving with a group of his friends on a complete lark.  Or when he traveled in Brazil with scarcely any resources with which to live or to eat.  He apparently learned how to land on his feet from our many cats.  It's an important skill to have when one is unburdened by fear.  Is it any wonder that I've adopted "Wear Your Helmet" as my personal mother's mantra?

Matthew continues to enrich our lives in ways we couldn't have imagined on that happiest of days 28 years ago.  And he still smiles easily and often.

So, Happy Birthday, Matthew!  Make it a good one.  The only thing that would make me happier today would be spending it there with you in K-Falls helping you celebrate.  I hope the cookies will suffice to bring me to you in spirit.  Spread your wings and soar.  Your journey is only just beginning.