A VERY Important Day, and The Last Hurrah of Summer!

Today was my "baby" son Devon's 41st birthday.  Yes, he is my youngest and as mothers with grown children know, your youngest is forever your baby, no matter how old he gets...or you get.  Devon is a genuinely good person.  He is tall and handsome too, but most importantly he is a loving person, with integrity.  He is a son any mother could be proud of.  He is a good husband and father and a good son, too.

As any mother does, I remember his birth story which he has heard before. He was due in mid August and I thought he would be a Leo.  But he was late and I was to be induced on the next Friday when I was two weeks overdue. His dad and I went to a Led Zeppelin concert three days before the induction day.  We were down in front, about five rows from the very front, looking up at Robert Plant and Jimmy Page performing for us. The crowd behind us got crazy. We were sitting in folding chairs and a lady behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said the crowd was pushing from behind. She could see I was hugely pregnant (9 1/2 months). I reached down to grab my bag and I felt my chair lift up beneath me. I screamed and Devon's dad pulled me aside, out of the way of the crushing very stoned crowd.  I had visions of my baby being crushed after a year of trying to get pregnant and finally he was almost here.  It was truly terrifying. 

Actual shot of Led Zeppelin in Seattle September 1, 1970

My view was more like this

Three days later he was induced and his father and I agreed to add Zeppelin to his middle name. His full name had already been chosen...Devon Frederick (his dad's first name) Rantz. So we added Zeppelin to his middle name.  The story doesn't really stop there because when he was being induced both the doctor and Devon's dad left thinking it would be hours before he was born. But the contractions came hard and fast and soon the nurse was calling my doc and Fred to come quick and they got there just in time. I bled immensely too and was given a blood transfusion. This was in 1970 before any fear of blood products. Devon weighed over 9 lbs and was very healthy and strong.

So my point I guess is this was a very wanted baby. It was our first together and we had tried so long to conceive him, even using fertility drugs.  I guess we were lucky he was not triplets.

Today was a very nice warm sunny day.  We waited all of May, June and July for summer to arrive in the Pacific Northwest and finally in August it came shining down. Never too hot, never much over 80.
Today was another beautiful day and my son's birthday. He had to work.
So the wonderful woman who is married to my wonderful son and I decided to take cards and goodies to Devon's store. I took cupcakes, which I haven't made for years. He was busy with customers so we left our goodies and cards and went to Juanita Beach, put our towels down and soaked up the sun as the kids made sand castles with moats. Well, Joe made a sand castle with a moat and the little ones wanted to "help."

Joe's sand masterpiece castle with moat

They all got sand all over themselves and everything they touched.

The beach there is sandy and shallow for yards out to the circular dock. Joe walked with Lucy out to that dock and never got wet above their legs.

Joe and Lucy are way out by the dock, so far away you can hardly see them. It is shallow aaaall the way out there.

So we celebrated summer and Devon's birthday without him, sadly. I will be sad to see summer go but I can feel the coolness of autumn in the mornings.

Today was a good day.  Happy Birthday Devon!