For the past 15 1/2 years, I have been the mother of at least one teenager.
But all of that changes today.
Today my baby turns 20!
RIP teenage years.
You took four children and turned them into adults.
You began with pimples and braces and left them with clear faces and wide smiles.
Adolescence handed you awkward and you’ve given back comfortable.
Questions found answers.
“Self” traded places with “others”.
Cocky melted into confidence.
“Know it all” changed its name to “want to understand”.
The body gained height, the heart grew deeper, the mind expanded and the spirit learned how to make faith its own.
Seven years for each child (28 years combined!) led to two parents who were much older, a bit wiser and who had a better understanding of the meaning of grace and the love of a perfect Father.
Happy 20th birthday, Blake! You may hand back the baton of this leg of the race that was handed to you by your sisters before you. You finished this teenage segment so well and seemingly effortlessly. You are a man, a person, a friend, a son and brother that I am so thrilled and proud to call my own.
The end of an era. The beginning of new one. And I can only imagine the joy and magic and real, true life that awaits us all.
As soon as we all get over the flu…
