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| Will inspecting the little berries he found. |
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| Enjoying the Mississippi. |
Today
we celebrate my son’s (William) birthday.
He is 10 years old. A couple of
years earlier before Will was born, we tried to have our first baby and lost it
several months into the pregnancy. It
was a great loss for us. We both wanted
to have a family with happy children running around us. At the time, I worked with troubled youth in school and
knew how difficult parenting was for so many. This only instilled in me the desire to have
my own children.
Anne
still gently kids me about when we first dated in how I asked her almost
immediately, “Do you like children?” Now
we are on our 14th year of marriage and I still have not changed, I
still love children. Will and Abby have
blessed us so very much and I couldn't imagine what life was like before having
them.
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| Will being made honorary Captain at Disney World. |
Will
is a person who weighs his actions before making them, while his sister on the other hand is a
dynamo of energy. Even though they are
opposites, they get along surprisingly well.
Will watches out for his little sister by taking her hand when walking
in a busy store or parking lot, while Abby adores her older brother. Anything that Will does no sooner than the
dust settles, Abby is trying it out as well.
She looks up to her older brother with respect, but does not want to get
left behind when he is trying something new.
Will on the other hand is patient with his little sister and helps her
out every chance he gets. They both have
their mother’s gentle heart and Will has his mother’s patience. For that, I am forever grateful.
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| Having fun with his uncles. |
My
memories go back to what seems only yesterday when Will and I were building
Eyore houses made from fallen sticks. We
would sit on a grassy spot under a tree not to far from the railroad tracks and
wait for “Salty” to come by, or one of the Thomas the Tank Engines. For myself, as Will’s father, I love him more
than I can say. He is the son that a
father could not be more proud of. He
helps me in many of the jobs that I do, cutting and gathering firewood to that
of helping grandma and grandpa with their groceries. He earns an allowance for his special things
that he wants, (iPod) etc., and our hope is to teach him about the value of
labor and how important it is to take care of the things that he has. We desire to place in Will as well, the understanding that
objects are just that, they cannot take the place of relationships. Most of all, we as his parents want to
instill in him a deep desire to love and follow Jesus Christ.
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| Contemplative Will! |
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| On the carousel having fun. |
Happy
birthday son! I will never tire of
telling you how much I love you!
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| Abby and Will exploring the enchanted forest nearby. |
