29 ... one more time?

Forget the fact that he’s now 6’4 and that I still call him my “Baby Tom”!  My baby turns 30 tomorrow. Well, he’s really not the baby, as in baby of the family; we’ve just always called him ‘Baby Tom”.  I’m quite certain that our term of endearment has caused him to roll his eyes on more than one occasion.

All that aside, I am still amazed at how this could possibly have   happened. He cannot be older than me now! After all I’m still 29. How dare him! And wasn’t it just yesterday that I was breathing a sigh of relief for getting him through high school?  Actually I’m sure I felt a collective sigh by many a teacher who had not taken early retirement.   It was just yesterday that I was thanking a school principal for his fortitude and the persistence of his teachers for being a part of my village.

Mr. Romans,

                It is with great pride that I write this letter to you. I would like to sincerely thank you for the interest you took in my son. Those many months of Horticulture and your confidence in his abilities inspired a much-needed confidence in him. Your respect for him as a person inspired him to be a respectable young man who has now hurdled obstacles in his path that a year ago seemed insurmountable to him. You have instilled a desire in him to further his education and for that, his father and I thank you!

                Our kudos to Mrs. Keithly who did what no other teacher or private tutor could do, and believe me there were many who tried. She taught him Algebra! Through her diligence he was finally able to comprehend it and pass! In our opinion she deserves and should receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

                Mrs. Miller taught him “failure was not an option”. She opened up an entire new world for him; the written word. How she was ever able to get him to read a novel in its entirety is beyond us. This young man has fought reading for an entire school life and now wants to major in English! Her faith in him gave him faith in himself.  Mrs. Miller, “the memory of a good deed can never be taken from the heart of one who is grateful”!

                And last but certainly not least there is Mrs. Bratton. Our thanks to her for making him feel loved and one of her own! He calls her one of his other mothers but don’t tell him I told.

                We thank you all for being a part of Our Village.

Well, he’s turning 30 tomorrow and I’m feeling jist a tad bit melancholy that those days of fighting over homework and broccoli are long gone. Though I can’t say the same about the then president who didn’t like broccoli either and with whom Tom felt he had an ally. Wait ‘til NATO hears broccoli has caused so many wars in America; Civil and otherwise!

 Where did the time go?