17 Years Ago Today...

our Zachary John came into the world. What a blessing he is! We had a nice dinner and invited Zack's friend Elizabeth and our family friend Benjamin to join us. Don is in Chicago and Alex had to work. Even with them missing it was a great evening of laughing and fun conversation.


I've been thinking back on Zack's childhood a lot today and realizing how much of his personality showed up with him that May morning and hasn't changed much since. For instance...


...there's the hair thing. Zack has always been a bit freakish particular about his hair. Ever since that first ill-fated crew cut, the need to be in control of his hair has been of utmost importance to Zack. Remember the adorable bowl cut?

...there's the audio-video thing. When Zack was about 9 he just wanted to be able to play music so we got him a Karaoke machine for his birthday. He never sang along with it but I know he had it wired for sound. He was dubbed "Mix-Master Zack" by my sister, Leslie. Now his room is filled with a 50 inch rear projection TV, audio mixers, computers, and ipods. Most Sunday's you'll find him in the sound booth at church.

...there's the "wheels" thing. From pushing around his favorite truck as a toddler to towing a little blue wagon on the back of his bike, Zack has been enamored by anything with wheels. This year's birthday was all about his Jeep...new roof rack, floormats, and even a special dusting brush for keeping the pollen off. He spent most of the afternoon working out in the driveway on his car. How convenient that he had to use my car with the full tank of gas to pick up Elizabeth and drive her home because his car is in a few different pieces. The boy's no dummy! (UPDATE: When Zack got home he handed me a five dollar bill for gas. How cool is that?)

It seems like only yesterday I was listening for his cry in the other room letting me know that he was hungry. Now I sit here typing listening for the chime of the door letting me know that he is home safe. Years have passed and the sounds have changed but the feeling is the same. Pure joy in the pleasure of being Zack's mom.

Simply stated: Happy birthday, my sweet boy!