When Your Kid is Cooler Than You

Samantha was here for spring break and Easter!

Last Tuesday morning I dragged her out of bed and took her to work with me to watch the Golden Knights conduct a tandem jump with some of our VIPs. A tandem jump is what I did back in November; I was attached to a parachutist and we exited the plane at two miles up and free fell for about forty-five seconds until he opened the chute. It was a chance to get Sam out of the house (and away from the XboX), bond, and let her see something really neat.

Of course Sam wanted to jump with them. No.

Of course Sam then wanted to go up in the plane and watch them exit. Again, No.

Of course I was then confronted by a 13 year old who had "nothing to do" but watch a plane wAAAy up there and a bunch of parachutes open. Thirteen year olds get bored quick.

Then we stood out be the landing area for the jumpers where one Golden Knight kept jumping out of the plane without a tandem "passenger". She kept landing on a mat with a small plate sized sensor in the in middle of it. This Golden Knight was SFC Elisa Tennyson, the world's four time and current freefall parachute champion. We began to small talk about lots of little things; life in North Carolina, her son, Camp Seafarer, ROTC, until I asked if Sam could get a picture with her; its not often you get a photo with a world champion anything. I walked off as I recognized the opportunity for Samantha to spend some time with this friendly woman who had put significant time and effort into something and as a result was exceptionally good at it, good to the point of the being the best in the world. As Samantha sets her sights for college and adulthood, I think the more chances for her to see and meet successful women, the better. They chatted while the Sergeant First Class packed her own parachute. Then off SFC Tennyson went to jump again.

Then, after her jump (again on the marker), the world champion invited Samantha to come over and said, "Sam, do you want to learn how to pack my parachute?" I stood off to the side and watched as Sam immediately and fearlessly went over and began to untangle the chute, and with guidance and demonstration, packed the parachute back into its rig for another use.

I watched and took pictures dumb founded. Not only was this woman - a professional who clearly knew what she was doing - enabling my daughter to do something that her life would shortly depend on, but that Sam embraced the task without hesitation.

I could never imagine myself doing anything like that at 13 years old. I didn't have the courage. I remember that I was once offered to ride in the front of a diesel locomotive headed from Monroe, NY to Middletown, NY and I told my dad, "No." Too shy and no confidence.

We stuck around the airfield until SFC Tennyson completed her jump with the chute Sam had packed. I kept telling Sam how cool she was - that's what parents do; but she just shrugged it off - that's what teenagers do

Watching Samantha made me wonder what she will be able to achieve as an adult with the confidence and attitude as a teenager that took me decades to find as a grown up. 

And that is cool.

Makes Me Laugh Every Time I See It

Oh dear. T.J.s new kick is having "dance party USA" events in his room. He particulary loves two songs right now: Baby by Justin Beiber and Make a Man Out of You from Mulan. Here he is dancing and showing off his warrior skills. Notice the books on which he is standing. . . that is his "stage". And of course he gets a little distracted once the "stage" comes apart. It makes me laugh every time I see it.

Where Does the Time Go?

How can it be four years? How could such a simple operation end so horribly, horribly wrong? How can there be two grandsons who will never know a Christmas with you? You have no idea how much you are missed...

There is a whole new chapter in my life that you'd be so proud of. The boys are wonderful, they would be a source of endless joy for you, and I'm sure there would be the inevitable comparisons between them and Andy and I. Samantha is a young woman now - no, you wouldn't recognize her. She is amazing and is going on to do great things. Life is good, despite your absence four years on.

There is a book in the house, The Cat in the Hat, that we read to TJ. On the inside cover is your hand writing "dedicating" the book to Alyssa, Samantha, and Luc. Someday I'll explain to the boys why you didn't get to include their names and live this day over once again.

Grant "Moose" Brown

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.


I am learning how to use Animoto on the computer and I thought a fun place to start would be with our pictures from Grant's photo shoot at 9 weeks old. The pictures are so precious. But of course now at 19 weeks he is double the size and double the cuteness.

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and he is weighing in at 17 lbs and 6 oz. Translate that into being in the 90th percentile of all other babies his age. YIKES! The doctor joked that our child was a "moose". Hmmm, is this the nickname we have been searching for? I am amazed that he has gotten so big int he past two months, just on breast milk and the twice-a-day-bottle-of-formula because mama can't quite keep up. How on earth does that happen? T.J. was so much smaller in comparison and I always worried that my milk was not "right" for him. I now know better.

Enjoy the video. Stay tuned for more in the future.

I am Yours

 


We had quite the exciting morning today. Not only did we become members of the Fuquay Varina United Methodist Church, but Grant was baptized at the same service. It was a nice occasion and Grant was so amazingly cooperative. I have to hand it to that boy. He is such a good baby. He makes his mamma proud. T.J. was an awesome big brother too. He stood up there and listened and watched without a peep.

I will admit that I did have visions of Grant doing one of his infamous spit ups just as Pastor Al holds him up for the congregation to see. . . . but thankfully, that did not happen. And there he was, dressed in the same blue outfit that T.J. wore in December of 2007.

As a part of the baptism, at the pastor's urging, we brought in some of our own special water to mix into the baptismal font. Our special water was from the Neuse river. . . straight from the shores of Camp Sea Gull and Camp Seafarer. . .a place that is so special to me and is starting to develop its own special meaning for our enitre family. These Camps really had a huge role in my spiritual formation growing up and I could not think of a better source of water to christen Grant. My hope is that these waters will have a transformational effect on my children as it has had on me. My hope is that my children will find God and the joy of Christian living as I have. . . and that Camp is a part of that discovery. Grant had his first taste of the Neuse river today. I hope he liked it.

The baptism also took on another dimension when trying to explain it to our three year old. I did my best to tell T.J. that today was the day that God came to live in Grant's heart, just like He did three years ago to a boy named Thomas Jacob Brown. Our associate pastor did a better job than I when she explained to T.J. that today symbolizes how much love Jesus has for his baby brother. And because Grant is sooo little, it is his older brother's responsibility to pay attention to what happens today and share stories with Grant about this day when he gets older. I think T.J. took this seriously. But as any three year old is, he was super excited when the baptism was done and he could go to his sunday school classroom to play with his friends, he even did his dance for joy in the sanctuary for everyone to see.

Grant stayed on my lap, and as a perfect baby does, he fell asleep in my arms for the rest of the Sunday service. Having him there in my arms looking so peaceful gave me an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of today. God gave us a beautiful son. And today, we offered that son back to God. Even more powerful for me was the song that was sung during the offeratory. It is a song I listened to countless time when I was grieving the loss of Rebecca-- our unborn daughter. And today it gave me more reason to pause to remind myself how blessed we are with the gift of Grant and how he belongs to God. It goes:

I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours. 

 May Rich and I do our best to raise Grant knowing that he is God's and he can always find strength, peace, and identity in Him. I am truly humbled with all that God has entrusted to me.