Happy Birthday to My Baby Baby Boy

The labor pains have slipped to the back of my mind, except, now and then I still use the excuse that I just had a baby and shouldn't be lifting anything too heavy. After all it was only 42 years ago, a girl needs time to recover!  Birthing a human is hard work!

Any way...who would have ever thought that the toddler who disassembled every toy that had parts, and a few that were one piece, would grow up, join the Navy and end up married to a beautiful woman who would ultimately give him a dazzling daughter and a precocious son, who also disassembles his toys? Not me, I was certain that I had done everything wrong raising him. I was sure I had completely messed this boy up beyond anyone's capability.  Enter the U.S. Navy!    I sent them my 17 year old son, who turned 18 less than a week after arriving in Florida, for his basic training and they returned a highly disciplined and muscled man a matter of weeks later. It was a blessing and it was a miracle. He was happy, handsome and down right debonair in that uniform when he walked out to meet us. (My Mom was with me). That day I knew he would be okay. I knew he had many changes to get through, but I also knew he would get through them all.

What neither of us knew was that President Bush would draw a line in the sand while my son was serving on the USS Independence aircraft carrier. We didn't know that he would be on high alert for weeks on end waiting for Saddam to do or not do something aggressive. He was a torpedo-man and me? I was petrified.
I watched every minute of TV coverage hoping to see some good news. Didn't happen. The good news came in the form of a letter telling me the date they were pulling out of the area to make room for their replacements. No action was the best news I could have hoped for and was beyond relieved to hear this.

John has grown and developed into such a nice man. He has had challenges along the way, but right now he is in a good place and has a great job and a wonderful loving and supportive wife and those little angels adore their daddy. His life is on track and on this his 42nd birthday, his mom couldn't be happier  or prouder of her baby boy.

I not only love this guy, I like being with him and talking with him and knowing that anytime I need him, he's a phone call or a text away. Yep, on this my baby's 42nd  birthday, I know I did a good job, aided by the USN.  He's a good man.

♫♫♫ Happy Birthday to YOU ♫♫♫

Mom