A Love Letter to My Younger Son on His 18th Birthday

My sweet Son the Younger (as I've always called you here),

You have always been the life of the party, quick with a joke, the one with unstoppable energy, and the boy with no nerve endings. When you were three, you broke your foot. You didn't cry, but you crawled home. The next day, you were running on it -- no pain evident on your smiling face.

Now, you enjoy a wide circle of friends. I know a lot of parents complain about their kid's friends, but I like your friends. They're intelligent, ambitious, opinionated, and fun. I enjoy your friends, and I love to see how happy you are with them. Does your choice of friends say a lot about you? I like to think you've chosen wisely, that a few of these are people you'll keep with you for a lifetime.

Soon you'll leave for college. I joke about the party I'll have when you move out, but you're my baby. We're close, and I'll miss you, even if you go somewhere close by. We won't have late night talks (about important stuff, or about nothing at all), we won't have TV-thons, we won't fight when I want to hug you and you pretend not to let me. Texting really isn't quite the same thing. I've always loved you, but I like you too, and I'll miss you.

Today you're legally a man. I've told you that you'll always be my baby -- and you will -- but I'm so proud of the man you're growing into.

I love you, son. Go out into the world and give 'em hell.

Tell me a random funny or weird fact about you.

I have certain odd OCD tendencies (some of my family members are diagnosed or undiagnosed OCD, so I come by it honestly). For example, when I make a sandwich, the filling must go between the parts of the bread that touched (clearly that's how it fits together best), and any spreads (jelly, PB, mayo, etc.) must extend all the way to the crust, which is obviously the driest part of the bread.

I didn't realize this was odd until several years ago when a co-worker watched me make a sandwich. He said that he'd never seen a PBJ so perfectly made. I'm pretty sure the subtext was "I could make three of those in the time it took you to make one."

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Fave & least fave word?

Hmmm, tough question! Been thinking about it all day.
Favorite: Love. All the different kinds. I'm really grateful to have so much of it in my life, from so many different sources.
Least favorite: Worry. Because of what it is, and because of a personal history with the word itself.

Ask me anything