11 Going on 25

Austin's birthday was a low-key affair this year. He wanted to go to dinner at the new PF Changs near our house, but when we arrived, the wait for a table was two hours. We took the beeper anyway, and went up the street to Academy Sports store, where - thanks to the generosity of Grandma and Grandpa - Austin had a gift card to spend. He bought a putter, and nearly got golf shoes, too, but they did not have his size in stock. By the time we got back to PF Changs, our wait had dwindled down to only an hour, so we turned in our beeper and said "thanks, but no thanks".

Chinese food? No go. How about Japanese, instead? We wound up at Hido's, a Japanese, hibachi-style restaurant. Once an older couple and two (very polite) teenagers on a date were seated around our grill, orders were taken and the show began! Sheila and Austin started with California rolls, which is like sushi for beginners. Next came the main event, which had Braden quite anxious because of the occasional bursts of flames coming from the other tables. Feeling safer sitting in my lap, we watched as our cook sliced and diced his way through our dinner. At one point, after the cook had flipped an empty bowl up into the air and caught it on top of his chef's hat, Braden exclaimed "you are duh greatest magician ub my life"! The older lady seated next to Austin offered to take our picture, and we gratefully accepted as she snapped the shot above.

Once home, we sang "Happy Birthday" and each had a slice of Sheila's Mississippi Mud Pie, which is Austin's favorite new recipe she's discovered by watching the Food Network. Then it was off to his room, to hook the the old eMachine's PC we had repaired, since his computer (2 generations ago) stopped working amidst a small cloud of smoke last week. He'll be happy loading iTunes and "Roller Coaster Tycoon" onto that computer until his summer bedtime of 11:00pm.

11 years ago tonight was an awful, long night in the waiting rooms of Northwest Texas Medical Center, worrying about my wife's recovery from a difficult deliver and my day-old son's response to the antibiotics our pediatrician said he needed to fight off a potentially fatal infection. Shelley's roommate was really hateful about me being in the room after visiting hours, but had the nurses bring her baby into the room, crying and waking Shelley all night. I remember trying to sleep on the chairs in the waiting room and on the floor of the waiting room, but sleep just would not come to me that night. I remember going to the nursery @ 5:00am hoping to see Austin, and being thrilled to see the pediatrician already there, holding him, remarking to the nurses and me how strong Austin was and how much better he looked than the night before. I remember crying different tears than I had ever cried before as I rocked him for the first time later that day, having been introduced to the countless anxious hours that would arrive at his expense.

He's so grown up now, so handsome, so funny, so damn difficult. I worry constantly that I am doing right by him, giving him the right environment for all his God-given abilities to mature and make him a good man. After all, I owe him. He made me a dad, and there's not anything else in my life which means so much.