Tenderness on the Block

This is post is a day early because there are important doings going in my house and in my life as we prepare to celebrate my daughter's birthday tomorrow. These are what passed for thoughts from a previous birthday and, like their subject, I tend to think they are better, not older. 

Our daughter, Michelle, gets annoyed when I write about her, even when I write nice things like she's the world's greatest squirrel wrangler, or wranglette (I'm never sure) so I expect she'll be less than happily surprised I'm mentioning her today (I checked with her Mom on this because Adam isn't the only one whose natal anniversary goes a glimmering around here sometimes).

Michelle, who explains to people she has 'my father's wit and my mother's charm' has a birthday all of her own today. I have known her for every day of her life, she cannot make that same claim. I still cannot fully grasp my itty-bit is an adult, especially when I insist on calling her my itty-bit. But she is and in hindsight, I'm thinking perhaps she was born an adult intellectually and just grew into the size of one. This is from her 'early days.'

Michelle at two days old

I can tell you we were NOT the biggest fans of Project Day when one of us was enrolled in Buckingham School's Integrated Day Program. The teacher would videotape each child's presentation and the question and answer session afterward and Michelle's mother and  I would take turns sitting in stunned silence as she departed from her carefully rehearsed script and descended into participatory educational chaos. On more than one occasion, I'm pretty sure I saw Conrad's Mister Kurtz, but then again it was awfully dark.

Michelle has an intensity about her that quite often can take you by surprise.She is in many respects, especially intellectually and emotionally, a quiet riot and amazingly confident in her own judgments, actions, and decisions. She may be wrong, but she is never in doubt.

She has a myriad of attributes and strengths from both the Schubert lineage as well as the Kenny clan but she is far more than the sum of her genetic inheritance or philosophic leanings and her character and intellect are very much her own. 

As she celebrates her birthday today you'd be well advised to join in, if you can or be prepared to explain why you didn't. And Mike, I went this entire blather and only mentioned the squirrels once. What? Okay, twice! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

-dad