Life's Lessons

There was a time when I thought this picture of Alex was very funny. Now that it's a reality, however, I find it a little bittersweet. Not only is Alex actually shaving, but he's driving, working, graduating, and heading off to college in the fall!

This picture still makes me laugh, though. He looks so serious. Like he's getting ready for work and is thinking about something important. The look on his face says "mom, could you please stop taking pictures of me while I'm in the bathroom, I've got a big day ahead of me."

When I look at this photo, the first thing I think of is "thank God Ed is an excellent and diligent keeper of the bathroom!" I mean, look at that white tile and grout! It's beautiful, honey, thank you so much for all that you do.

Alex is our oldest son. He was, and is, responsible, organized, and good-hearted. As a little boy, Alex wanted to adopt every little critter that came our way. Like the mouse that made its way into our house with our freshly cut Christmas tree. Unfortunately, we killed the poor thing after luring it out with cheese and putting it in a bucket in the garage. We were going to let it go the next morning, but he froze to death. Needless to say, tears were shed that day.

Then there was the time in Florida that a very young Alex and Cameron, while on a walk with Ed, came upon a baby lizard on the sidewalk. In the midst of Alex's plans of naming it and oohing and aahing over how cute it was, Cameron squashed it like a bug. Once again, more tears (along with a few cross words).

And let's not even get into when we rat-sat for his friend Connor's guinea pig while he went on vacation and then the rodent died on our watch. Ed and I wrapped it up like a burrito and stuck it in the freezer for the night so Alex and Cameron wouldn't see it laying dead in it's cage when they woke up in the morning. After checking with Connor's parents, we went ahead and held a little wake and buried it in the rose garden. That was traumatic enough. But when Connor returned home, he changed his mind and wanted his little buddy back so he could hold his own funeral service. Needless to say, a body in a Kroger bag had to be exhumed and more tears were shed that day.

My wish for you, Alex, is to never stop caring or giving, even though sometimes it hurts. I hope that dad and I have done a good job of stressing the importance of giving back. We look forward to all the amazing things you will accomplish as you move forward.