My oldest son is turning 16 today. Sometimes I miss the toddler Josiah so much I would do almost anything for a time machine just so that I could hug that fuzzy haired little boy one more time.
He was born with ears that were way too big for his body, and when it was time to start loosing teeth, he lost all of them at once. This boy learned to crawl in one day and learned to walk the next. He took four hour naps until one day when he dropped napping completely.
We were on vacation in Florida one time when a strange phenomenon occurred. Multitudes of fish began to swim to the shallow water where we were swimming. Soon the fish were swimming up onto the sand by the hundreds. I thought maybe I was watching evolution happen before my eyes, but then I was told that this was a yearly event. Apparently sharks infested the deeper water at that time of the year, so the fish swam onto the shore in a desperate attempt to avoid becoming a snack. It was most definitely one of the strangest things I have ever seen happen. Then I noticed that Josiah was picking the flopping fish up one by one and tossing them back into the water. I told him that there were way too many fish for him to throw them all back in. "I know I can't save all of them," he said, "but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try."
When he was older we took a trip to Chicago. We took in all the typical Chicago sights, and were walking around downtown so the kids buy some souvenirs with their spending money. Suddenly Josiah told us all to wait, and he ran back and gave all of his money to a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk who we had walked past many times. Someone made a comment that the man would probably just use the money to buy whiskey. "Maybe he will," Josiah said, "but at least I know I showed someone who has nothing that he is a valuable person."
When we were talking about the huge island of garbage that has collected in the Pacific Ocean, he said that we should get a boat and go clean it up. I told him that the dump was so large it would take years to clean up. He shrugged and said, "Then we should get started right away."
Happy Birthday, Son. I am honored to be your mother.
He was born with ears that were way too big for his body, and when it was time to start loosing teeth, he lost all of them at once. This boy learned to crawl in one day and learned to walk the next. He took four hour naps until one day when he dropped napping completely.
We were on vacation in Florida one time when a strange phenomenon occurred. Multitudes of fish began to swim to the shallow water where we were swimming. Soon the fish were swimming up onto the sand by the hundreds. I thought maybe I was watching evolution happen before my eyes, but then I was told that this was a yearly event. Apparently sharks infested the deeper water at that time of the year, so the fish swam onto the shore in a desperate attempt to avoid becoming a snack. It was most definitely one of the strangest things I have ever seen happen. Then I noticed that Josiah was picking the flopping fish up one by one and tossing them back into the water. I told him that there were way too many fish for him to throw them all back in. "I know I can't save all of them," he said, "but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try."
When he was older we took a trip to Chicago. We took in all the typical Chicago sights, and were walking around downtown so the kids buy some souvenirs with their spending money. Suddenly Josiah told us all to wait, and he ran back and gave all of his money to a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk who we had walked past many times. Someone made a comment that the man would probably just use the money to buy whiskey. "Maybe he will," Josiah said, "but at least I know I showed someone who has nothing that he is a valuable person."When we were talking about the huge island of garbage that has collected in the Pacific Ocean, he said that we should get a boat and go clean it up. I told him that the dump was so large it would take years to clean up. He shrugged and said, "Then we should get started right away."
The world is a better place because of Josiah.
Happy Birthday, Son. I am honored to be your mother.
No comments:
Post a Comment