Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
Celebrations!
One week from today, my grandson, Cameron, will become a six year old. He has come a long way since that August he was born – the August of a solar eclipse that might have happened on the day he was supposed to be born. Instead he stayed put for another week or so, just so he could grow a little longer and gain the 4 ounces over 10 pounds that he sported when he finally arrived. Watching him enter this world was a gift I will never forget. Holding him while his Dad called Nigeria with the good news was thrilling. I have hundreds of pictures of him growing into a rangy, tall, almost 6 year old person.
Jan and I will travel to New Jersey this coming Monday. Our trip will be a little more complicated than usual because Jan is managing her new diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes. We have a letter from the doctor to explain the insulin pens and needles in case the TSA folks object. As tiny as the needles are, we might be able to impale a gnat if our reflexes were good enough. Hopefully we won’t need to produce the letter. Oh, and her pacemaker means she has to avoid the body scanner and be subject to a full body pat down. That should make the TSA person doubly happy. Getting through the airport to our gate is the most complicated part. Well, except for finding the Uber spot at La Guardia airport.
We arrive on what is my ex-husband’s birthday. He and Diane will already be in New Jersey helping with the boys since Jackie has to report back to work the week before Cameron’s big day. I will be able to tease Richard about being an old man of 74 while I enjoy what’s left of 73. We’ll probably go out to eat that night to celebrate the two birthdays.
Last year Cameron wrote a page about his grandparents coming for his birthday and how that made him feel “exsided”. Hopefully he will have the same reaction this year. He has asked for the birthday theme to be about Toy Story. Since Jackie excels at creating a big reveal downstairs when the boys wake up on their birthdays, I’m sure she won’t disappoint this year. Now I need to find a Toy Story birthday card in order to honor the theme.
Legos are the gift this year. Cameron excels at building sets that are technically beyond his age range, sets that are designed for 9 to 10 year old kids. He got the spatial gene from his parents and his grandfather. Both of my children were Lego experts at a young age and Cameron is carrying on the tradition. He has the dexterity to handle the little pieces and the know-how to follow the creative directions. Maybe he’ll grow up to be an engineer or an architect. Or maybe he will be an artist or a dancer or a basketball player. I hope I live long enough to honor his choices.
In another celebration this week, one of my young clients, (14 years old), got his new Green Card. It’s a big deal because it gives him a bonafide photo ID, the ability to work, and eventually the right to become a US Citizen. He came here from Africa, from Lesotho, when he was 4, having been adopted by a couple from Saint Louis. He’s had a rough go of it because his adoptive parents divorced not long after they got him here, and were not capable of caring for a young child. He’s been in the foster care system for quite a few years now. His original green card was lost somewhere in the system and all he had as proof of his legitimate status in the United States was a smudged picture of the front of the card. Yesterday I happily fedexed (that’s a verb now) his new card to his Guardian Ad Litem.
Life is good.