17

Do you remember what you were doing the summer you were 17 ? For me, it was the summer after I graduated from high school. I worked a lot - I had lots of regular babysitting jobs. I was in demand.
I didn't have a boyfriend, having recently broken up with Dan Newhall. And I wasn't even sad about it.
I was going away to college in the fall - 6 hours away from home - and I couldn't wait. My parents drove me crazy. Especially my mother. I had a lot of great friends, and we hung out together all the time, listening to music and doing other stuff that you don't want to hear about. (It was the 70's people).

Today, my youngest child turns 17. He is the greatest kid. He is so kind and loving. He adores our animals, and almost always takes the time to play with them - especially the cats. He is soft-hearted. He's always been an animal-lover.
He has recently acquired a girl friend. No, we haven't met her , it's early days yet. Is it the one he really likes? Or is the one he really likes going to finally make up her mind and then the new girl will have her heart broken? Or will the one that couldn't make up her mind have her heart broken in the end?
The best part about this whole scenario, is that he talks to me about it. He trusts me. He knows I won't make judgements, and will just try to help him figure it out. He knows I'll give him some good advice. One day a couple weeks ago, he was stressed. He told me that he was avoiding the new girl, that she'd been texting him all day. He was avoiding because he didn't know how to handle it. I suggested that he text her back right away, that she was probably upset that she hadn't heard back from him all day. So he did. And then he felt better. And I'm sure she did too. And it progressed from there.

He is job hunting. He took the SAT's on Saturday, although - with this kid - we're not sure that he is University-bound. He might end up going to the local community college for a year or two, then transferring to the University. We'd save a ton of $$, and with my being unemployed...
We will have to see. He'll be a senior in high school in just a few months.

So today he turns 17. I always ask my kids on their birthdays if they want to hear the story of their birth. It's become a joke. They've all heard it 1000 times. The joy, the excitement, the blessings of their births.

He's a young man now. I feel that these were good years for him. I think he'll look back on his younger years and feel happy. And he looks forward to moving ahead with joy.

Happy Birthday to my son!