My Oldest Child is 22

On this day, 22 years ago, I became a mother. Like today, daffodils were in bloom, the sun was shining, birds were singing, and I was happy and naive in my new role.

I was thinking back today to special memories of Ben as a boy that painted a picture of the man he has become today .

1. He was always working hard. He loved to help me vacuum, loved order, not a messy kid, but not afraid of mud, either. He had stains to prove it, but he just wasn't a slob. He is still a hard worker, except he doesn't love to help me vacuum. His love for order shows itself in an ordered schedule, a simply kept-up room (not gleaming, but not cluttered). And he chose accounting as a career.

2. He loves to play hard. Growing up, he got into every sport with gusto. Soccer, basketball, skateboarding, snowboarding, lacrosse, football, you name it. The x-rays and ambulance rides prove it. His passion for extreme living recently caused us to ban him from going snowboarding in blizzard conditions. (If we hadn't, the cops would have.) He also recently took a canoe out on the Chesapeake Bay with a friend. Trying to turn it, they capsized. He had to swim back to shore in frigid water in early March. He could barely breathe to talk, it was so cold. I'm glad I didn't know about it until he was home and shoving wet clothes into the washer, smiling and all red in the face like he'd been out for a brisk swim or something.

3. He doesn't take things at face value. He thinks about things from various angles. When he was about five he asked, "Mom, if there is no sin in heaven, but Satan got kicked out of heaven for pride, then didn't he have pride in heaven?" I had a mini-theologian on my hands. Right now he is examining his beliefs and where he fits in. He's not willing to just accept what we, his parents, believe. At first I balked at that, but I realize CS Lewis was right: "An unexamined life is not worth living." (I think that's Lewis and I think that's the quote. Please correct me if not.)

I could say more, but those are three that stand out in my mind. I love my son. I am so thankful God gave him the characteristics of one who lives life to the fullest.