Joe at 14

 

Joe turned 14 years old yesterday.  It's hard to write that sentence because it's a reminder of how quickly time is slipping by.  Inexorably.  

On the way home from work yesterday, I called our dear friend, Roseann Maikis, and left her a long voicemail.  I always call her on February 20 and March 28, our boys' birthdays, because she delivered both of them.  In addition to being our longtime friend, Roseann is Jude's OB/GYN.  She brought both of my boys into this world and for that, I will be forever grateful.

Joe's delivery was more difficult for Jude that JP's, which meant I got some extended one-on-one time with him while Jude was in recovery.  I held him in my arms for what seemed like hours and sang softly to him.  Made up verses from Elizabeth Mitchell's "So Glad I'm Here."  Over and over, I sang to him, as much to calm my nerves as to comfort him, I think.  

I was a little worried about Jude at the time because I knew the surgery had been more difficult than expected.  As I recall, too, Joe was making a noise when he breathed that worried me a little bit.  The nurse told me everything was fine - with Jude and Joe - but still, I worried, as I often do.  

Those shared first moments with Joe, though, were special.  To know his first moments on this earth were spent in my arms, quietly singing and talking to him, means everything to me.  It's a memory I carry with me every day and one that will never leave me.  

Just the other day, Joe and I were reminiscing about "Joe Time," the 45 minutes or an hour we spent together after Jude had left to take JP to school and before I took Joe to Children's House.  Sometimes, we watched "Daniel Tiger" on PBS.  Other times, we had "second breakfast" at Bongo Java, and watched a Thomas the Train video on my laptop.  We often went to Belmont U. and played nerf football, one-on-one, in the atrium outside the Curb Center.  We reenacted "Dude Perfect" trick shots, with the football, all over campus.  

One memorable day shortly after the Bird scooters descended on Nashville, I drove Joe to school at Children's House on a scooter.  We drove straight into the drop-off line, much to the amazement of the teacher handling drop-off that day.  No one really knew what we were doing, as scooters ubiquitous as they are now.  Joe and I still laugh about that morning.  

As always, Joe is a good hang.  We have so much in common.  A love of music and good food.  We like to try new restaurants together.  Last night, for example, we had an amazing family meal and birthday celebration at The Optimist, in Germantown.  Joe is always up to try new food and new restaurants.  Some of our fondest memories are of restaurants he and I found when we were on the road for baseball or soccer or, lately, while Jude and JP have been out of town looking at colleges.  

Joe and I share a love of music.  I love the fact that he plays the saxophone and I hope he continues.  He has improved tremendously from last year to this year.  Playing an instrument is not something JP has ever done, so the saxophone is a bit of a separator for the two of them, which I like.  

Recently, Joe and I went for a run together.  He got a two miles in with me and I was impresses with how easily he ran compared to runs in the past.  As I told him afterwards, I think being in basketball shape really helped him in his run with me.  I'm not going to push it but my hope is that we can run together more often this spring.  

Joe's first year at MBA has gone smoothly or so it seems.  It's helped, of course, to have Bennett and Sawyer there from University School.  It's also helped that he made the soccer, basketball, and baseball teams.  Basketball, in particular, was fun for me to watch, as Joe, Bennett, and Sawyer all started the entire season and were three of the key players on the team. 

As I have written before, though, Joe's group of boys at University School of Nashville seems to have been a little closer, and larger, than JP's group.  Joe and JP are different, of course.  Once JP left USN, he never looked back, only forward.  Joe, however, misses some of his close friends who stayed at USN like Sam, Rory, and Walker.  He still stays in touch with them, which is nice to see. 

Joe continues to be a natural leader, although he doesn't see that yet as much as I do.  We're working that from a confidence standpoint but, as I've also written before, Joe ends up leading every team he plays for.  This year, he was a goalie on the "A" soccer team and starting point guard on the seventh grade basketball team, as is the case with his Bucket Squad team, too.  I suspect he'll lead the seventh grade baseball team, too, once they're up and going and Coach Martin realizes what he has in Joe.  

Continuing Joe's birthday weekend, Pike is sleeping over tonight.  We're going to go to the Belmont basketball game.  It's the second to last home game of the season, which is a little sad.  It's been an unexpectedly successful and entertaining basketball season, one I don't want to end.  

There's so much about where we are now, as a family, that I don't want to end.  JP and Joe at home, enjoying each other's company.  The four of us together.