Happy Birthday

My son Eric is celebrating his birthday in Flower Mound, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, where he moved when he was given a big promotion by the Boy Scouts of America. He was put in charge of Project Eagle - coordinating the construction of the huge permanent Boy Scout Jamboree site and adventure center on the New River in West Virginia. Eric is very smart and a terrific organizer. He's worked his way up the Boy Scout ladder ever since he joined them when his Army enlistment was up in Louisville, Kentucky. When he was born I thought, this is great because we will always have a picnic on his birthday. If we lived closer I would be rushing around making potato salad and icing a birthday cake. Sadly we have lived far apart for many years. So many folks around here have always lived near their kids and grandkids. I hear about their get-togethers all the time at work. I haven't lived with or anywhere near my three kids since they were all 17. I've been told "the better you raise them the less they need you" but that doesn't make me feel much better. I always miss them on holidays like today. They are busy with their various exciting and meaningful careers and I'm very proud of them. At this time I have Mia on the East Coast, Eric on the Gulf Coast and AJ on the West Coast. We were all together for Mia's wedding in February, but that was a joyous occasion that was over in a flash. I can't see any of them moving to Northern Appalachia any time soon. Hannah and Luke are coming for a fabulous month this summer and I am very much looking forward to their visit...and the frogs in the pond are scared - very scared!