Be careful when you blink!

Because then they grow up. Yes, what seemed like a blink of an eye, he turned 18.

I was just that age myself when I found out I was pregnant, scary stuff but you know, quite possibly one of the best decisions I have ever made. Nineteenth of May 1993 was the day that my life changed forever and I became a mother. I won't deny that it was hard, especially when you are trying to do the best that you can whilst in a bad relationship but really, he was an absolute joy. Well, when he wasn't crying that is! Seriously, that is all this kid ever did and I am not kidding! My wonderful dad was one of the very few that could get him to settle, note the picture below with him lying on Pippy's (My dad) knees.

He did however do lots of cute things though. Like the time that he said quite out of the blue, "I love Paul" when all I had been doing for weeks was try to get him to say I love mummy.

Oh and he was really cute too when he didn't sleep! Yes, he didn't like to sleep either. Paul and I would take it in turns lying down to get him to sleep, this then meant that either one of us would fall asleep too and the night would be over. We eventually weaned him to one of us sitting on the bed patting him, then just sitting on the bed, then sitting at the end of the bed, then sitting on the floor, then sitting in the doorway, then sitting in the hallway, you know I am sure you get the drift and it took forever!

There is so much about him that is easy to love, as you do as a parent, unconditional love but one of my proudest moments was when he stood up at the tender age of seven and spoke at his brother's funeral, this simply gave me the strength to carry on. My heart swelled with pure admiration at the strength that not even his father or I could muster. That moment was closely followed by the time he saw his tiny baby sister who weighed only 1600grams for the first time. I had one of the ICU nurses say to me later in the day that she wished she could have bottled the love that was visibly flowing from his heart as he reached in through the humidicrib to stroke her hand. Such a gentle soul he was back then and still to this day.

There were moments in the teenage years where I didn't like him, loved him yes but like him? Hell no! It wasn't until he was a couple of months past 17 that he became our friend again. He'd moved to and from Brisbane several times and it looked like this time he was staying. I enjoyed his company, he was fun to be around and then again, it was all tears when he left to make a new start in Port Hedland.

He ended up spending his 18th birthday in Broome, surely there couldn't be a nicer place to do it right? It was lovely to see that after all these years he was able to spend the day with his gorgeous cousin Maddie, her partner Kurt and  his girlfriend Danika. The sun, the beach, of course the obligatory 18 year old "legal" drinks and Birds of Tokyo playing in concert! What a fantastic birthday!

So Happy Birthday TJ, we are so very proud of the awesome young man that you have grown into, we love you and miss you dearly but know you'll be home soon to visit.