Vince's first fish - Lake Alpine, CA 1991 |
Vince was born in 1985 and this is 2017.
That means that my first born is now 32 – which doesn’t make
sense. I know it sounds cliché, but it went
by in a flash. Just yesterday mastered
the Etch-a-Sketch. He learned to read
and write before he was supposed to. He learned
how to ride a bike in the backyard at Arnold.
We took trips to Great America and Disneyland; took family vacations to
Hawaii and Washington D.C. He collected
baseball cards, rocks, and Legos. He played
sports and work at a movie theater.
He moved out suddenly; we moved to Africa. And then – he was gone.
It was like losing an astronaut in deep space when Vince
moved out- in Africa I prayed constantly for him. Once we reestablished contact, we asked him
to consider spending some time with us in the RSA -and he did. It was the beginning of the relationship we
have now.
Vince arrives in South Africa - 2008 |
It is one of the greatest graces of God when your adult
children choose to have relationship with you. When I pray, I thank God for the
kids he gave us. I thank God we have
grown and changed together. I watch them
in a certain kind of wonder, thankful that they can do all the things they do.
Vince has recently changed professions—no longer is he in
the oil fields of New Mexico. He lives
in Sacramento again and works as a plumbing apprentice.
Vince under a house - earlier this year (2017) |
He works very hard every day and still comes
home to play hard with his daughter, Scarlett. As I do homework I can hear her
shrieking with delight upstairs, as her Dad plays with her.
Every Saturday night Vince and Rikki go out
and Mario and I get to have Scarlett.
Tonight we made a birthday cake together.
“Who is this cake for?”
I asked her, almost rhetorically.
“MY Daddy,” Scarlett said, hitting her chest with her
hand. “MY Daddy!”
“YOUR Daddy is MY son,” I said, smiling. Scarlett gave me a look that always makes me laugh. She is possessive of her parents, and doesn’t like me to hug either one or talk about them like they are any relation to me. Scarlett shook her head.
“MY Daddy, and that’s Daddy’s cake!”
After I put it in the oven, I marveled at the beauty of
life. Not only do I get to write about my
son growing up, I am also writing about his daughter growing up in front of me,
as well.
God is so good.
Happy Birthday, Vince.
You grew up fast, but you became a man who I am glad to know. I love you!
Mom.