Each year I try to write a little something on each of my kids' birthday.  This year I'm kind of at a loss because the oldest, Michael, turns 18 today and that means that as far as the law is concerned he's an adult. An a-d-u-l-t.  What the hell happened to the last 18 years?

Whatever.  One of the reasons those 18 years have been such a blur is that time flies when you're having fun, and Michael definitely keeps things fun.  Whether it's imitations of his teachers (God help our schools if he's even remotely close to being accurate) or verbatim scene reenactments from Monty Python, the kid's a natural comedian.  Some day he may take his parents' advice and pursue his natural talent, but he's just as likely to do something totally unexpected.  He has a tendency to think for himself and do what he thinks is best, much to our frustration, but it's gotten him this far so who am I to second guess? Oh right, I'm his Dad and it kind of comes with the job description.

Right now Michael's trying to figure out how he's going to survive a senior year with a brutal AP schedule while figuring out which college he wants to attend and also keeping his skills sharp on Xbox Live.  I'm telling you life's much more complicated these days, what with figuring out AP science by day while playing Call of Duty against some ringer from the Ukraine at night. In my day we circled around the Atari and watched our buddies play Asteroids.  Ah, simpler times. But I digress.

Whatever he decides to do Michael will be good at it.  He's an amazing young man (I can't write kid anymore) and he has a heart of gold.  Hopefully whatever he decides to do won't take him too far from home and, whatever it is, it will make him as happy as he's made his Old Man and his Old Man's better half.

Happy Birthday Big Michael.

Michael before the prom last spring

Michael enjoying our house painting

9-year-old Michael with his Mom and sister climbing the Grand Tetons.

Found on Flickr: Warholized Michael (I think he was fourteen)