My Boy is 22 today

Twenty two years ago today at 7:56 a.m. Josh came into this world and changed our lives forever. Parenting has been an amazing journey. I would not go back to being a non parent for any reason. Today we celebrate Josh's 22nd birthday and there are lots of reasons to celebrate. He has experienced much in his 22 years and for the most part the experiences have been good. Even if the experiences were "bad" he has had opportunities to learn from them, and learn he has. It's in the most difficult times that we realized what(who) is most important to us.

I will call him at 7:56 a.m. and remind him of the words of the midwife (Cathy Smallbone) who stayed overtime after her shift because she wanted to meet this child she had been waiting for all night: "ten fingers ten toes, 7:56 a.m. it's a boy" and all of a sudden, I was a Daddy. What joy, what terror in the same moment as I realized that nothing could ever place a wedge (unless we were golfing) between my son and I.

Tonight we will celebrate with a birthday dinner. Our tradition is that the birthday person gets breakfast in bed and then gets to choose the meal or restaurant for dinner. In typical Josh style, he has chosen to go to the "Charcoal Steakhouse" probably one of the best steakhouses around and the most expensive too. Oh well, it's only once a year and it's my boy's birthday.

Happy 22nd Birthday Josh