Family Moab

Family Moab
In Arches National Park

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Happy Birthday to William

May 18 dawned with snow falling and spring flowers freezing in their roots. My newly minted fourteen-year-old stumbled downstairs, grumbling a response to my cheery birthday wishes. After a minute or two on the phone registering Snapchat HBD's from friends, however,  his smile lit the room. Ah, teenagers.

The kids had five different activities between 3:45 and 6:30 last night, and the pressure to rally for a good birthday weighed heavily on me. Good thing Aden likes to bake - and procrastinate. While putting off a final English essay, she decided to construct the leaning tower of Pisa. I had purchased both chocolate and a vanilla (gluten free) cake mixes, thinking to give William a choice of flavors. In his absence and in favor of both surprise and overwhelm, Aden decided to use both to create an alternating vanilla-chocolate, four-layer masterpiece.

Relegating to sous-chef, I watched in amusement as she skillfully constructed her tribute to a teenage brother. We ran out of frosting, so the cake looks like it put a hat on but went naked from the neck down.  I was grateful for the enthusiasm and help, the brightly colored gift bags I found in a basement closet, and the friend support this morning. Parents can't do it alone, nor would we want to. Developing community for our children is a privilege and a responsibility, and one that we start to hand over to them as they grow. Happy birthday to William, may it be both memorable and delicious.

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