Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Happy Birthday Ben!


I've had a tough time lately with the gauging of time, and I'm probably not alone in that I often forget what day of the week we're on.  Given the events of the past year, the passage of time has either seemed dreadfully slow or remarkably fast with whole months slogging along at a snail's pace or weeks zipping by  with no time to catch my breath.

Our youngest son Ben turns 11 today, which seems hard to believe.  I feel it was only a short time ago we were discussing his turning 10 and entering into the realm of double digit ages.  The past year has been largely a blur.  This year's birthday has already been more fun for him than last year's, as he's back in school and we had a small gathering of close family members last weekend to celebrate his big day.  Last year, we settled for a small cake and his cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents singing to him over a Zoom.

Ben's resilience over the past year (and the resiliency of his older brother, Doug) has been amazing.  Like everyone else, he's had to deal with virtual classrooms, cancelled plans, postponed vacations and holidays with just the four of us, essentially sheltering in place.  But he never stopped smiling, never stopped being silly and never stopped being hopeful.  His piano playing took leaps and bounds over the past year, he's now an accomplished bike rider and his tennis game continues to improve.  But most of all, he's showed us over the past year he's got a huge heart.  Knowing his birthday celebration would fall on the same day as his grandmother's actual birthday, he requested a joint cake to share with her, since his Mimi had celebrated her birthday virtually alone last year too.  He's 11 now and I couldn't be prouder of him.

Memory Lane
2010 - Welcome Ben!
2010 - Ben is born, Roy Halladay wins, all is right with the world
2011 - Ben turns one as Roy Oswalt pitches the Phillies past the Padres
2012 - Happy 2nd Birthday Ben!
2013 - Happy 3rd Birthday Ben!
2014 - Ben is Four!
2015 - Ben is Five!
2016 - Ben and Chewbacca
2017 - Ben is Seven!
2018 - Ben is Eight!
2019 - Ben at the Grand Canyon
2020 - Ben is Ten! (Social distancing version)
2021 - Ben, accomplished piano player, amazing kid, turns 11

2 comments:

ParanoidPanda said...

Happy Birthday to your Ben! You are a good dad Jim.

The Shlabotnik Report said...

Happy birthday, Ben! Hope you enjoyed your day!