Dear Thomas,

In just a few hours you will be 9 years old.  And as I have every single year on your birthday I am writing you a letter.  Your father and I reminisced today about those last few days of pregnancy before you were born.  Everyone says it, and I suppose they say it because it is true, but we had  no idea what was in store for us.  I suspect one of the great things about genetics is that it can produce children so well suited for their parents.

You have grown and matured so much the last 12 months.  You amaze me every single day.  This year has been an incredibly exciting year for you.  You started off school and did very well.  Probably the biggest highlight of the last 12 months was when you were voted your 3rd grade class president.  You wrote one of the best, funniest, and totally true to you speech in your run for sergeant of arms.  And as you know it brought you lots of media attention.  Flying to New York with you so you could be on TV was unforgettable.

The summer before school started you impressed me and lots of other people by hosting anyone who wanted to come to your Wizard Rock Birthday party.  Sure the cops showed up twice!  And that was pretty kickass!  But mostly it was the kindhearted request to raise funds for the Harry Potter Alliance.  The funds split between the HPA and the Genocide Intervention Network.  The money you raised by requesting no gifts protected 52 women for 52 weeks.  It was an amazing celebration of life, you amazing, amazing boy.

But there was more than just media!Thomas wrock!Thomas this year.  There were endless games of monopoly and civilization.  There was the sudden discover of Harry Potter in the written word instead of just the stories retold by bands.  There was the community service you  performed not only as part of student council but also as part of our family.  There was your first piano invitational and wonderful improvement in your violin. There was our rock band, Listeria.  And the hours the three of us spent on it.  There was Costa Rica and ziplining.  There was laughing until you cried.  There was your religious struggles and finding peace in a faith that you came to on your own terms.

You amaze me.  Every. Single. Day.  I am torn between wanting you to stay little and wanting to see every single moment of you as an adult.  You are the best person I have ever known and your presence in my life makes me want to believe in a God who would give you to me.

Happy 9th Birthday.

Mama.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 9:57 pm and is filed under All the stuff.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.