(I posted this on my FB wall at about 6:30AM on August 6th)
August 6th.. Yes, the Martian Curiosity machine has landed. That is neat. As I write this, ten years ago, to the hour and almost to the minute, I was the sole attendant at the birth of an amazing little boy. No doctors, no ambulance (not enough time), and much panic… and desperately recalling all of my First Aid training.. Happy Birthday to a most special boy, David Hugh Scott. You are now ten years old, and what a joy you’ve brought to all that know you.
It is teasing when I tell you that you need to start going backward in age.. that you are actually turning 6 all over again… or 3.. or 7, or 5.. because of the amazing memories you have brought me and others over your decade worth of life. I am glad you can laugh at my teasing and have learned yourself to be a bit of a tease at times, with your cheeky humour. I love your “knock knock” jokes and the ones you make up yourself. But then, I look fondly back on your creativeness when you were 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 years old too, and the smiles you motivated, and the people you have touched.
I love the fact you love your older brothers, Alex, James and Colin. And I know they love you. And circumstances are such that you don’t get to see them all the time; but it’s ok with you – you’ve never learned anything different, so it’s all good anyway.
I am proud of what you have accomplished in your ten years of life. I am one of the most luckiest of fathers I am sure; I have four sons that are awesome and terrific, and you happen to be the youngest, and please don’t ever forget, as a dad, I had three before you; they were not “experiments” but all of them taught me something about being a dad. I know I still have lots to learn. And I will make mistakes. Some of them I’m not sure if they can be corrected. But I will always love you.
David, ten years ago, almost to the minute, you took your first breath, and I held you and fell in love with you. I have aged, and probably have not done as well with age as others, but you have done so much with growing and learning, through your youth. Part of me lives vicariously through you, and your three older brothers as well.
There have been times when it’s been your very existence along with your brothers’ existence that has motivated me in times I felt down and wanted to give up.
Happy Birthday, my “wee man.” You might think I am celebrating your birthday, but.. I am also celebrating decisions I made, a decade ago, and am so happy with them. So many parents talk of their children as if they are some how a burden.. I am blessed in that regard in that none on mine ever have been a burden, and indeed Mr. David Hugh Scott, you’ve proved over and over again just how amazing it can be to observe, watch, and love, a child can be. i wish I could give you the world.. but I can’t.. yet at the same time, I am sure in my knowing that you will do and become what you are capable of. I am proud of you, just as I am proud of Alex, James and Colin too.
I love you, David, and as I have fond memories of how you were at 1 year old, or two years old, or whatever age I have in my memory, I look forward to watching you grow, giving you advice which you are free to ignore (cuz lots of it did not work out for me anyhow), and with your thoughts and ideas, do what you can to live another decade, two decades, three.. five.. seven.. ten…
I love you, David Hugh Scott. So much. Happy Tenth birthday, my wee man.