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| My Superman |
Last night I went to see the
latest Batman movie which I will talk about tomorrow. Today is the birthday of one of my true
super-heroes – my son. You’ll have to
excuse me if I gush a little bit but I am so proud of both of my kids who have
turned into these remarkable young people despite having me as a parent. I clearly remember the day he was born. I was a young captain and my wife and I had
decided we would only have two children so he would be my last child. We didn’t know whether he was going to be a
girl or a boy but since we already had his sister we were hoping against hope
for a boy. I’ve always been under some
pressure to carry on the family name since my father’s family ran heavily to
female offspring and they’re just a few of us with the surname. He was delivered via C-section at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington,
DC around 10am in the morning. The nurse escorted me into what I thought was
a waiting room and then said – “there’s your baby” pointing to this tiny little
being under a heat lamp. He was lying on
his stomach so I immediately asked if he was a girl or a boy and the nurse
looked at me strangely because there was evidence of his gender readily
apparent. I guess I just wanted
confirmation that my dream of a son was reality. He was so different in temperament than his
sister, our first child. He was always
thoughtful and quiet and at the same time extremely outgoing. I was extremely tough on him growing up –
making demands on him that I thought would prepare him for life but in
retrospect were not always the smartest or best way to go. Despite this, my repeated absences due to
military deployments, and dragging him all over the world, to include three
different high schools, he has grown into a superb young man that I could not
be prouder of. He was a scholar athlete in
college (my alma mater also) setting 9 school track records and graduating as a
civil engineer. He’ll probably get PO’ed
at me for saying this but I am most proud of his capacity for caring. He really does “get it” and that’s a rare
commodity in today’s world. As I watch
him evolving into the man he has become I often compare myself to him at the
same age and find myself lacking. He’s
one of those singular individuals that makes you feel important to him, even if
you’ve just met. I love him. Happy birthday to my “big guy” and the best
man that I know.
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| He Used to Copy Military Salutes |
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| College Graduation Day |
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| Buddy is a Big Fan Also |
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| With M.E.G. |
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| Always So Good with his Mother |
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