My son is 19 today

Today is my youngest son's birthday. He is 19. NINETEEN! Bring on the zimmer frame. I am a good mother. We have a chocolate cake. Bought. And candles. But I suspect he may just veto those. He is asleep. I am sitting here waiting for him to appear. Nineteen years ago, he was a couple of hours old, and he was so tiny....the smallest of all my 3 children. He was also 2 weeks early.


He was just 15 months old when we moved back to the UK, and he is 100% English, and remembers very little of South Africa. My older children were 13 and 9 when we moved, so they remember much more, and my oldest son spent another 3 years travelling back and forth when he went back to SA to finish school there, and stayed with my parents. As I have said, we spent a great deal of time travelling. This, however, is the only home David has ever known.


In September, he will be off to university, and out there in the big wide world, just as his brother and sister before him. The baby who came as a very welcome surprise. Who dismantled playpens, and tried to eat the dog's food. The toddler who used to slide down the stairs on his stomach at breakneck speeds. Who climbed anything and everything. Who never needed to sleep much. The little one who learnt to ski when his mother and aunt pushed him down the slope and caught him. Who had a little yellow BP bike thingy he loved to race about on. The child who set off my parents' home alarm for fun. And climbed the burglar bars. The boy who loved playing cricket. Who drew endless plans of cities on sheets of paper which had to be stuck together until they stretched the length of the lounge. The boy who chose to go to a school none of his friends were going to, because he, at 11, saw that people were nice to each other there. Who adores the computer. The teenager who helps out at youth clubs. Who is loyal to his friends. Who helped his Dad at his allotment. Who started writing his own books when he was just 15. Who lost his father at 17, and who has shown so much maturity and strength. The young man who is tallest and biggest by far in this family. Who is a gentle giant. Who loves hiking in the Alps, having adventures....Who is more perceptive than most, and who cares deeply about so many things. Who has great faith and an imagination that amazes me. Who has travelled a path from a human tornado of a babe to a quiet, yet strong man.


Who has dreams of his own to follow.



Soon now.


Happy Birthday, David!

I love you loads and loads.......