21

Well, the last child in our family just had a birthday…so that means that absolutely every single person in our household has had to deal with Covid birthdays. I will say the May birthdays win it for the team since we were on lockdown.

At the time of this writing, our little community is being hard hit. Those that have it are still walking around carrying it to others and not wearing their masks properly.

I will say in the beginning I myself was unsure of masks. I kept hearing from the top down conflicting reports and so I quickly became a doubter. However, since May, I have been wearing one…but I refuse to wear one when I’m outside…unless I’m in a crowd of people.

This year has been a nightmare…for everyone. We are all sick and tired of absolutely everything. We are just plain weary. I’m tired of fighting and I’m tired of debating. I just want to operate my small business and allow others to do the same. If you are sick, stay home. If you have an underlying condition…stay home. If you refuse to wear your mask…stay home. There is now enough evidence out there I do believe they are helping…but they will not if you don’t wear them properly.

Today, we were able to celebrate my eldest child who will be 21 and I just can’t believe it. I’m so proud of all he has accomplished.

As soon as he was born I had to check to make sure that he had all his fingers and toes and that he was perfect…and he absolutely was.

He was a perfect baby…and I can’t tell you what a delight he was.

There are some children that are just special and both of mine truly are…but life sometimes calls us to so hard things. Life chose to give us a difficult hand… but in spite of that…we made it.

In life, there will always be difficulties. There will always be things that don’t feel good. What makes us get back up? What makes us keep trying? What motivates you? What excuses do you have and continue to make? What do you want to change? Sometimes in life when we struggle…we learn quickly how to make that situation work in our favor. The key to success is to take the lemons of your circumstances and not just make lemonade…but strive to go beyond that. If you constantly throw out the negative things that happened to you. You will only stay right there…that’s as far as you will go.

My little boy, gave me a reason to get up in the morning and keep fighting. I hope, he learned the same from me.

At 21…it’s difficult to see where he will go. Who he will choose, who will choose him. What career path he will take. This is the part of parenting that is hard. The part where we must be silent to many things and a cheerleader to even more. Give advice when asked, and keep mouth shut when not asked. Be supportive, but not manipulated…and continue to expect the best. Set the bar high…and encourage them to reach it.

Happy birthday to my favorite son! I love you!