Happy Birthday, have a great year.
As I told all my grandkids, I am going downhill while they are going uphill. One is now on the Freshman football team, growing in wisdom and stature. It is a sight to behold. It is no longer I who live but they - and Christ - who live in me.
I'm now a grumpy old man. Life is but a series of endless burdens that only get worse. My bones are failing. My eyes. Memory. Endurance. Yet, in the presence of my progeny, life is new and exciting. A butterfly, a rainbow, good food sampled for the first time, and tears at not always getting what you want. Through them, I am renewed and live joyously once again.
Even hearing my daughters and stepson share the problems of their age and the sense of responsibility they have in dealing with what is before them gives me great satisfaction for it reminds me that I must have lived well to parent such a one as this. The thought brings tears to my eyes.