August is a huge birthday month for us. Actually born on Tuesday, August 23, 1988, a second little bundle of joy arrived and joined our family about 3:25 in the afternoon. Bryan undoubtedly had the biggest, blu-est eyes I've ever seen, and today, 23 years later, they are still as blue as can be.
I always called him, "my little man" and now he is grown into quite a handsome young man. He is too kind for his own good sometimes, but very courteous and loved by all mothers who have daughters. I'm frequently told if I ever get tired of him, they (other mothers) will adopt him. What a compliment for me, but not a chance. That boy could never do anything to make me dis-own him.
I knew before he was born that he would be musically inclined. Did he ever have rhythm! He would sway and wave at church during the music and as soon as it stopped, he would get still. He played the drums at two on my pots, pans, and coffee cans. He used pencils for drum sticks. He would get in the floor and pull them out of the cabinets. He would insist that I save different sizes of cans to add to his collection. Why I did not get a picture of this, I do not know and I do so regret it.
When he was 7, Santa brought this first set of drums. He was so excited and played them all the time.
Then in the 7th grade, we stepped up to the "real thing." PEARL!
At the end of his freshman year of college, we went "professional." YAHAMA!
He worked long and hard all summer to save his money to buy these himself.
I started calling him "the little drummer boy" and to this day I still say that. I did so in fact just the other day to someone and they laughed. People would say, that racket must drive you crazy. And I would say, "Not one bit, I love it! I dance around the house to the beat. And besides, you never have to wonder where he is or what he is doing."
Life has been exciting with Bryan just like his sister. We've had a snake bite, the same arm broken twice, and acute appendicitis 700 miles from home just to name a few.
We've played t-ball and basketball, been in scouts and sold popcorn, had drum lessons, gone to band rehearsals, competitions, marching events, and concerts. We've rented a tux for proms and bought corsages. I even taught him how to drive and went with him for his driving tests. Now that was a day full of mishaps. I wish I had time to tell that story; maybe another day. We've sat for hours at the kitchen bar memorizing multiplication tables and practicing spelling words. On the way to school, I called the word and he would spell. He has a million dollar smile when you can get one out of him and I paid for it; he had braces. If you get him really tickled he has the best laugh in the world; it comes from really deep within and it was just like that when he was little. Every morning I fixed cinnamon toast, his favorite, and then would go get him out of bed. He was a sleepy head. I picked him up and carried him to the bar until I just couldn't do it any more. I think he must have been 8 and about 50 pounds. His legs were nearly dragging the ground. I didn't want to quit until I just couldn't do it any more. I knew the day would come all to fast for him to grow up and leave me behind.
And indeed, it has. It's his last year of college and he has moved out once again back to the dorm to enjoy campus life. I can't blame him, but I sure do miss him. He'll be around though. He still does laundry and he gets hungry. We sort of celebrated his birthday Sunday. We bought him a small frig to take to his college room. He was actually excited.
Well, the day is all his, but I think I am the one who is truly blessed.
One proud momma,
Marcia
