Stop & Smell the Roses: October 2019

Landon,

Right now you are upstairs warm and snuggled up in your bed.
Tomorrow when you wake up you will be 8!
So, while you are drifting off to sleep I am continuing on the important tradition of your birthday letter.

I wrote your first official birthday letter 4 years ago and now it has become something I look forward to every year. I love to go back and read about the things you were doing and it's interesting to see my thoughts and perspective as your mother throughout the years. I just finished reading the very first birthday letter I wrote you.
You were 4 years old and I am astonished by how much you were already you...
Your little personality has always been there, it's just that you are MORE of yourself.

It's the hardest thing to explain but I guess it's like a house. Like, when you were born there were blue prints, and then the foundation was laid and the concrete poured. Then the beams went up and the windows and doors were framed out. The insulation, plumbing, electrical, all of those things were done and I could see in my mind's eye the finished product.

I could see the potential and I had ideas about what the finished house would look like.
I suppose I still have ideas about what you will look like, and what kind of person you will be. Sometimes I imagine different scenarios and situations you will face as you get older and I imagine how I think you might react. I imagine different careers I could see you in. I imagine the kind of teenager I think you will be. And of course as a parent its normal and natural to think and wonder. Since I have seen your blue prints and have been a part of laying your foundation and building out the framework for who you are I imagine 4 years from now when I'm writing to you for your 12th birthday maybe I won't be so shocked when I realize you are just MORE of who you are.
And over the years details that I never imagined will be added.

My one dimensional blue prints didn't include any landscaping so I just pictured lots and lots of sunflowers.
The thing is, you prefer red tulips and neat organized flower beds.
And, I didn't realize that the one thing the blue prints were missing was a wrap around porch with hanging swings but you knew that was a must.
In my mind I pictured the house brick and stone but you like the color blue, so now the house is blue and it looks better that way. The blue prints I saw had designated one of the rooms as an office but you decided to turn it into your art studio and now there are beautiful and original one of a kind pieces hanging on the walls of your house.
I pictured generic and safe neutral colors for the walls but you envisioned something different so now one of the rooms has an orange accent wall and it just happens to be the thing that ties the room together.
And I swear the original blue prints had an attached mother-in-law suite (for me obviously)
I noticed you turned that into a music studio...

I am so honored that I got to be a part of the initial design process. And your dad and I have tried to lay a solid foundation and we will continue to ALWAYS check for any cracks. The integrity of your foundation and walls and the plumbing and HVAC stuff largely falls on us while you are in our home. Leaky pipes and roof issues thats where we step in. YAY fun!

But you...you get to add the colors to the walls, you get to designate how the space is used.
You get to pick out the flowers for your garden. The rooms should reflect who you are as a person and I know over the years there will be some major renovations. Your cute little airplane bedroom that you share with your brother will one day be all yours and I'm sure Dusty and Skipper will be replaced with sports memorabilia and pictures of fast cars.
Your dresser will no longer hold all of your special lego creations that you don't want Logan to be able to reach. Instead there will be manly smelling cologne and deodorant..maybe even a picture of your girlfriend instead of the
"I love you to the moon and back" picture frame I got you.
Your stuffed monkey with the crocheted scarf I made will be packed away in some box labeled keepsakes.
By the way that scarf was supposed to be for you but...Yeah... I DON'T crochet.

Honestly, I'm glad the details are up to you.

You are so much better that anything I could imagine! You surpass every expectation because you add something no one else can...YOU.

Know this; I expect great things for you!
And because I know YOU and your blueprints and foundation I expect great things from you.
I can't wait to be right about how great you will be and all of the amazing things you will do in this world.
But, I also can't wait to be wrong about the specifics of what that looks like.
I can't wait to see how YOU work out the details, because I know anything that I imagine is missing your imagination. And it's your dreams and imagination that will bring depth and profound life to my one dimensional blueprints.

So go on Landy, innovate, develop, re-design and break the mold.
Feel free to demolish, move walls, and build additions.
Modernize, and restore; renovate to your heart's desire!

Willy Wonka sang it best in "Pure Imagination"

We'll begin
With a spin
Traveling in
The world of my creation
What we'll see
Will defy
Explanation

If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world?
There's nothing to it