The boys attended a birthday party at U-Bounce Party House this morning located on East Second Street near Daviess County Middle School. After dropping them off, Sandy and I decided to drive down to Smother's Park to see how high the water had risen. We knew from the news reports that the river was near flood stage. As we walked along the shore Sandy noticed the fog rolling in. Before long, the RiverPark Center disappeared behind her. It was eery, like a low budget horror movie. As the swollen water lapped at the very top of the bank, I half expected a sea creature's tentacle to mysteriously extend out of the thick fog and drag one of us into the water. Luckily, our unusual London fog soon lifted and my fears quickly evaporated.
The boys were horsing around today and thought it was funny to share the
same jacket. I said they looked like Siamese Twins, and they had no idea what I
was talking about. Seeing this as a teachable moment, we opened up Google and
began talking about conjoined twins often called Siamese Twins. Now, our twins
are fraternal rather than identical, so this condition never threatened them.
Identical twins develop from a single egg and conjoining occurs when the
individuals don’t completely separate. We looked at the various photos of
conjoined twins and they became very sad for those poor siblings, who have to
struggle through life connected to one another. Today we learned of yet another
thing to be thankful for.
I am so blessed. At my advanced age, the love of friends and family mean
more to me than anything. Sandy shows me her love in so many ways, and my
birthday cake is but one example. Since she found out that chocolate birthday
cakes are important to me, she has never failed to bake me one. Benji made sure
my cake was decorated with classic muscle car hot wheels. Davey built me a
custom made Lego steam train. Sandy and the boys also delivered a new baseball
glove and Orioles cap (the boys new little league team). My parents offered to
babysit Friday night and bought us a birthday dinner at a fine restaurant, and
my in-laws offered us the same when we visit Florida. Additionally, I received
birthday greetings from over 100 Facebook friends. Life is good!
We love to see our boy’s creativity. They enjoy building things with
Legos; trains, planes, cars, boats, buildings, etc. As future engineers, it is
fun to see their minds develop. First they learned to stack and lock bricks
into columns. Then they discovered that by weaving bricks they could create
walls. Square buildings soon followed, and then more complex structures. After
they grasp form, they began to think about design by carefully coordinated the
color of the bricks used. Today, Davey began accessorizing with balloons. I don’t
think he’s ever seen a blimp, so he imagined that his passenger train could fly
if it were tied to giant helium balloons. We can’t wait to see what he’s come
up with next.
Tonight we attended a First Grade Concert at Margaret Sutton Elementary School.
Nearly a hundred students participated representing four classes. We were proud
to have both of our boys involved. Benji was on the top row, the fourth one on
the right. Davey was one row below in the very center. The program lasted about
15 minutes and was comprised of a dozen short songs, which all the students
sang by heart. For one song, Benji came down front and played a bucket like a
drum. Davey sang with his typical animated glee. Unlike Benji, Davey never
suffers stage fright. I think we have not seen the last of these boys on center
stage.
As a boy I couldn't wait to get home after school every day. After
immediately fixing a bowl of cereal, I’d head directly to the family room to
watch Gillian’s Island or Brady Bunch reruns. If it was warm, I would often go
outside and play with my friends. Off campus, school was my last priority, as
it was for most of my friends except Earle Adams. His mother insisted Earle
complete all of his homework before he was allowed to go out to play. I thought
this was very unfair. After all, I protested, he had been in school all day already.
But, Mrs. Adams wanted to teach her son the discipline of getting his work done
before playing. I didn’t appreciate that then, but I do now. I left for college not knowing how to study
properly, and we want our boys to learn first things first from day one. Every
day after school we complete our homework before playing. It’s part of our
routine and a great habit to learn. It certainly contributed to Dr. Adams
earning a post doctorate degree in chemistry from Yale University.
For many years Sandy and I defined ourselves by our professions. Our
careers and identities were well-established by the time we met and married. Life
was wonderful as a couple, but incomplete. Not until we became parents did our
lives become whole. Maybe if we had been
younger and less established or if pregnancy had come easier, would we take parenthood
more for granted. Instead, we feel exceptionally blessed by God every to have
Davey and Benji in our lives. At this stage of our lives, parenthood is our top
priority, and we make it a demand responsibility. Sometimes, this is unhealthy
and a short vacation from the boys is required to recharge our marriage. Thanks
to our parents, we are able to get away occasionally and restore our balance. Life
is good!
