Happy Birthday to CMAGS

[Paperbeam]

Happy B-Day as well Chris!

Terry

[cMags]

First I want to again thank everyone for the birthday wishes. They are really appreciated. This is the only forum out of dozens (I think I deleted 35 "Happy Birthday from <Forum Name>" emails today) that I received personal birthday wishes from. This is the one forum I feel to be a proper community, where there are folks I can actually call my friends.

Below is what will probably run long of me needing a place to jot down some thoughts and reflections on my birthday. Feel free to read, skim, skip, comment, or not. But PM is the one digital outlet I feel allows me the comfort to pour this out. So thanks for the kilobytes to burn.

So I turned 27 today. This year I actually feel older (and lets skip the comments on how young I still am - I know I am, but still this one is a marker for me). Today I feel like I'm entering my late twenties, and leaving my early/mid twenties behind along with what I can only as of yet call my youth. As a child, each birthday brought excitement and fun and another year closer to "being grown up". After the mile markers of 16, 18, and 21 where more and more freedom is bestowed (along with the responsibilities those freedoms afford, usually ignored at the time), birthdays have been just another excuse for a party, and a chance to talk to friends/family that call to wish well - nothing really special.

This year seems different. Yesterday my wife and I had some friends over for grilling games and celebration, and I find myself closing the night with a few glasses of water rather than digging in the cooler for another beer. Earlier in the day I bought a new (ok slightly used off craigslist) lawnmower as my gift to me. Not a new toy or a nice aged bottle of scotch or bourbon. A mower.

Mowing the lawn today on the silver anniversary of my terrible twos, I began feeling reflective. Maybe its the book I'm reading, "A Pirate Looks at Fifty" by Jimmy Buffett reflecting on his 50th. I begin to think of things like identity. I feel that I'm finally truly leaving the "kid" and "young man" identity behind, growing into my third year in the role of husband, and becoming comfortable and excited about my upcoming role of father in October. I think about what kind of man I have become. Modesty aside, I know I'm a kind man, fair, and genuine. The mower hesitates for a moment and I think about checking the carb and spark plug. I know what a carburetor is and how to dismantle/clean/reassemble one which is more than most people from my generation can say. Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" starts playing in my head (funny how you can't hear a thing but the mower, yet still some song will play over and over in your mind while you mow).

I look down my driveway back toward my life. I've got a wife and a baby on the way, a good southern dog and two cats, a solid job, a house, a couple newer model cars, a garage full of tools and projects, new furniture, and a nursery in progress. I spend all week working to afford all this while my wife is in school, and most weekends maintaining it. I think about my best bud from college who was best man at my wedding, currently serving as second mate on a cruise ship in Alaska. He sends me Facebook mobile uploads (today's equivalent of postcards) of parties on ship, various ports of call, gorgeous Alaskan scenery, and just this week photos of himself flying in a helicopter to climb a glacier. My inner frat boy says "awesome!" but lately the frat boy is quieter. What I'm building here has staying power. I'm living my own adventure. I'm going to have a son in a few months. Crazy. I mean, wow. A son. Sometimes it just hits me how incredible it is. I can't wait to share all sorts of new adventures with him, all the things I love. I think about the things my dad shared with me and how they shaped me to who I am today - things like camping, boating, Boy Scouts, model making (yes I will be sharing this great hobby with my boy), electronics, science, computers. He taught me how to fix things and maintain a home.

I'm only two years older now than my father was when I was born, but I feel that he went into fatherhood much younger than I am about to. People say you never feel ready, no matter your age, but I do. I'm living the dream, as old fashioned as it is, but I love it. And as my day of celebration and reflection comes to an end, I know that 27 is going to be a good year.

[airdave]

sorry I missed this...happy belated!


I turned 50 last November...man! 27 sounds nice!

[peter taft]

And a Belated happy Birthday wish from me to you Chris :D