Happy Birthday to my son, my son, my son!

This is me, with my newborn baby boy, twenty-five years ago.  This was our going home outfits.  At this point in my life- this is the most I had ever weighed.  Why can a woman look at a photo and tell you if her weight was up or down?  I can tell you what I weighed in high school, on my wedding day, in 1982 when I had my daughter, 1987 when I had my son and 1989 when I got divorced.
A couple of years ago, I weighed the most I had ever weighed. And I went to Hawaii weighing the most I ever weighed.  I look back at those photos, now and think "why didn't I lose weight before that trip?"  But you know what?  I had a smile on my face in every photo! 
Now, I weigh about twenty pounds less than I did in the photo, above. 
I digress.
Twenty five years ago my son was born.  He was only twenty-two months old when I got divorced.  He has always been protective of me.  He was influenced in a mighty way by his older sister and myself.  He has never been a man's man, which in my mind isn't a bad thing.  He was always hanging with the girls and friends with all of them.  He now says he and I are friends.  This makes me happy.
When he was a little boy, he dove into life.  It didn't matter if he could swim- he would jump into the swimming pool.  The first time he saw the ocean at fifteen months, he toddled out to the water's edge and applauded.  He was joyous. 
He was my teddy bear.  He would come and get in bed with me at night and I wouldn't even know he was there.  But he was a cuddler. 
Two years ago he graduated from college, saved his money and moved to North Carolina.  He wanted to get a job as a teller to get his foot in the door.  It was a tough time for him.  He might have gotten another job, but he held out for a teller position.  And, got a teller position.  Since then, he has received a promotion.  He has a new apartment that I haven't seen.  He works at a new branch that I haven't seen.  A mama has to be able to picture her child where they live and work.  This mama has to. 
So at 3:30 a.m. we will get up and go to the airport. I will arrive in the Triangle  at 10:30 a.m. and take my son to lunch to celebrate his birthday.  Then tomorrow evening we will all go to his girlfriend's parent's house for dinner.  Thanks to social media, I feel as if I know her parents.  We are facebook friends and email.  My son says her mother and I are "two peas in a pod." I can't wait for my cyber friends to be real friends.
My son is a good man.  A straight-shooter.  He has a kind, caring heart and a great sense of humor.  He is intelligent and responsible.  His financial wizardry is natural.  (He gets that from his Dad.  I have a degree in English- that side of my brain doesn't work.)
The days will sift through our fingers like grains of sand. 
Happy Birthday, my son, my son, my son!