September 2011
Today is Red’s 14th birthday. While part of me finds this incomprehensible, another larger part pretty much takes it in stride. After all how different was she this morning from yesterday? From last week? How different will she be tomorrow? Hardly at all, yet the changes occurring in her all the time are profound and everlasting. As they are in all of us.
Change is a funny thing, isn’t it? Its movements are so stealth that we never notice them as they occur. When you looked in the mirror this morning you saw the same person you’ve seen every day. Oh, maybe this was the day you spotted a new gray hair or a more pronounced wrinkle. Perhaps you felt the few pounds you gained over the past several months. But those small changes didn’t happen suddenly; you simply noticed them for the first time. When all those small changes aggregate over time their cascading effects slam home.
Grab a photo of yourself taken yesterday. No change, right? Pick one from a year ago and they’ll be minor differences. Find one from 10 years ago and you won’t be able to fathom when exactly you turned from that to this, be it for better or worse. There’s a beautiful old song which declares, “a change is gonna come, oh yes it will.” Well, it’s already here. It arrived at our side the moment we left the womb and will remain our most constant companion until we exit through whatever portal awaits us.
This evening as I compare photos taken today with those from Red’s 8th and 11th birthdays, the physical changes are obvious. However, what these photos only provide a glimpse of is the continued evolvement of those positive traits she’s always exhibited, those which are defining who she is and will be: compassion and respect for others, the desire to help those in need, and a lively good natured sense of humor. If these first 14 years are any indication, I can’t wait to see the aggregate effect of the changes in her over the coming years. It makes every new gray hair, wrinkle and pound meaningless.
Red's 11th birthday - September 2008
Red's 8th birthday - September 2005
Trask Avenue 
John, there’s still time left. Have an ironworker make a box of stainless steel with an opening big enough for a plate of food, with a lid equipped with a hasp. Put that young little gem inside and let her out when she’s oh… 24 or so. Based on experience.
Lovely young lady, lucky dad. Awesome post.
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Thanks! I’m thinking of moving to a castle with a high tower where she can live in peace for the next 10 years or so, but apparently that’s been tried and it didn’t work. Your plan may be the way to go!
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It’s interesting that we so often fear change and fight to hold on to what we already know, but as you so elegantly put it change is the only permanence. Embracing change allows us to grow. You have a lovely way with words. I’ll be stopping back time and time again!
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Thanks for your kind words, Sandy!
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Thanks, Mark. I know you can appreciate these sentiments.
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Very sweet. Very cool.
Very nice.
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