June 2, 2025

16 and 12

We’re deep in the heart of birthday season at our house, these two turning the mind-blowing ages of 16 and 12, and filling that house with noise, music, make-up residue, murder mysteries and graphic novels, Stardew Valley sounds, random socks in strange places, and an array of candy wrappers. It continues to be one of the nicest parts of my existence to live a life that overlaps with theirs, and I cherish all the togetherness because it won’t be too long before I have to miss it, which will be a happy part of the story too, I GUESS. But in the meantime, I just feel very lucky that they seem to like my company most of the time, and consent to tag along on adventures. I also feel lucky that they like each other very much, and are kind to each other, especially since we basically only had a second child because we wanted to the big one to have somebody to share carnival rides with. You can’t plan a lot of things in life, but thankfully this one thing worked out, and that I get to hang out with the two best people I’ve ever met is just the sweetest bonus, better than anything I ever could have imagined, their goodness beyond my wildest dreams.