Hayden’s 17th Birthday

Friday was Hayden’s 17th birthday.  Man, that was a bitter pill to swallow!  It dawned on me that this was his final birthday as a youth.  The next time I celebrate his birthday with him, he will be an adult!  Sigh.

That realization was very emotional for me!  I can sympathize with how my mom must have felt when *I* left home…I was her youngest of 6 children and much younger than the others.  After all the years she spent parenting all of us, it must have been very difficult for her to face the closing of that season of life.  When I left home later that year, she was a bit bitter and resentful, and she wasn’t very nice to me that day, whereas my dad kind of switched roles with her and was warm and encouraging and just as helpful as he could be.  I know he was proud of me for forging out on my own.  I now know that my mom was, too, but she was struggling with those feelings of separation for the last time, and I can only imagine how hard that must have been for her.

Hayden is my first-born.  He was always a ball of energy and a great big handful, but he kept me on my toes for all these years.  I wouldn’t trade them for a thing!  I can hardly believe he’s almost a man.  He’s my son, but he’s also a great companion, my buddy, if you will.  I enjoy spending time with him, and it will be hard to see him go when the time comes…like a dear friend who suddenly moves away, and you keep feeling the stab of missing them year after year…only worse!

Anyway, he’ll always have my heart, and I love him so dearly!

The day before his birthday, we took a little trip out to Colonial Williamsburg.  We mostly just walked around…it was so hot that we weren’t up for doing a whole lot while we were there.  We did get to see the armament, which we had missed last year, and that presentation was pretty interesting.  But the best part was when we stopped in at the colonial bakery.  We each picked our own treat and sat outside in the shade on a park bench and enjoyed a few moments of rest.  I had an apple crumb cake, Hayden and Haylee both had brownies, and Holden had a chocolate chip cookie.  Everything’s baked fresh every day, and it was all SO good!

We made a pit stop in Hampton to pick up some great deals at the Goodwill Outlet (always fun) and had lunch at Rally’s (all of ours have closed in Va. Beach).  Then just before we finally got home, we stopped for a Slurpee.  The kids had a great time!  We were all so exhausted from the heat that we started collapsing one by one.  We had no trouble sleeping that night!