Have you ever seen one of those little books with the illustrations on each page which appear animated when you riffle the pages quickly from beginning to end? I used to have one have that featured a dancing couple, and the idea that I could make them twirl and spin and dip their way through a virtual ballroom absolutely fascinated me.
If I could dig through my photo albums and find just the right pictures of my son, I imagine I could create a wondrous book of his life thus far, from infancy to adulthood. And I could make the pages from September 29, 1987 to September 29, 2008 flutter by over and over again, reliving memories that seem as though they were made only yesterday.
When you have babies, people far wiser than you are at the time (people who aren't sleep-deprived) warn that you'd better pay good attention, because the time will fly by and your children will be grown and gone in a flash. I'm a living witness to the truth of their words today, the day before my son turns 21. It's one of God's greatest mysteries, how we got from the photo of the toddler, just up from his nap (he was a wonderful sleeper), clinging to his beloved blankie and his last pacifier, to the handsome young man in his college fraternity portrait. My compliant child, he grew up in spite of me.
So happy birthday Ben. I love you, I'm proud of you, and I can't wait to see your future unfold. And don't forget what I told you when you were a senior in high school: Always remember whose you are. Here are 21 more great bits of advice on your 21st birthday...
"Use what talents you possess—the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." ~ Henry Van Dyke
"The best way out is always through." ~ Robert Frost
"Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible." ~ Francis of Assisi
"Sometimes you've got to jump off cliffs and grow wings on the way down." ~ Ray Bradbury
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve." ~ Albert Schweitzer
"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." ~ Psalm 37:4
"Overnight success takes a long time." ~ Stephen Jobs
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." ~ George Bernard Shaw
"Do the ordinary things in an extraordinary way." ~ George Allen
"If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball." ~ Jack Lemmon"Whether you think you can or you can't, you're absolutely right." ~ Henry Ford
"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." ~ Zephaniah 3:17
"Once the mind has been stretched by a new idea, it will never again return to its original size." ~ Oliver W. Holmes
"Where there is great love there are always miracles." ~ Willa Cather
"I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look at the individual. I can only love one person at a time." ~ Mother Teresa
"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint." ~ Isaiah 40:31
"A ship in the harbor is safe - but that is not what ships are made for." ~ John A. Shedd
"The best things in life are free." ~ Cole Porter
"All things are possible with God." ~ Mark 10:27
"You are a child of your heavenly father. Your faith in His love and power can never be bold enough." ~ Basilea Schlink
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