I have been on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride of Emotions! Today, my middle child turned 16. I started out today writing out his birthday card, and that process took me down the 16 years of Memory Lane. He started his life 10 weeks premature, weighing in at short of 3 1/2 pounds and about 16 inches long. He was just such a little guy, he established a residence in my heart that just never faded. He's always been the one that I watched out for a little more than the others. In recent years, he's grown up (now 6' 1" and about 220 pounds) and we've grown a bit apart. Nothing serious but he'd rather be around his friends...go figure.

Today, he went for and received his driver's permit, and we spent the afternoon cruising around the countryside with him at the wheel! We chatted like we had years ago. He was laughing, smiling, and basically beside himself at the thought that he was actually driving legally! We went to lunch at a dive little bar/restaurant, and then proceeded home. He just left. Just before he left, he came up and hugged me, thanked me for the day, then took off to be with his friends. I was left standing there in shock! This kid hasn't hugged me without protest in years!

I'm now sitting here with the realization that my little boy has grown into a fine young man, and what a young man he is!

Oh, Tim! How did I miss this wonderful post? I love proud dad posts like this. From 16 inches to 16 years and 6'1"! Wow... and the hug, that's beautiful.

My oldest is 15 and I'll be in that passenger seat with you soon enough. He still jokes and talks with me all the time, invited me to his MySpace (if you haven't experienced MySpace.com, you might be better off! lol), but I noticed a while back that the "I love you's" at the end of phone conversations were a little lacking.

The other night though I had to speak to him about being respectful to his mother no matter what. It was a serious man-to-man talk that had him in tears over his frustration (come to think of it, it deserves a full post of its own), but at the end of it he told me he loved me and it felt like for a moment that teen barrier was gone. It was such a blessed glimpse to know my boy is still there under that cool teen exterior. :-)

Thanks for posting this, Tim. Sorry it took me so long to catch up (I guess I should be using my doctors excuse... yeah, that's the ticket!)