Last year on this day we planned to make Josiah’s 12th birthday one to remember…you know, to make it up to him because we were on a government mandated lockdown. Well, a full journey around the sun later, with a few sporadic weeks here and there where kids were allowed to see the light of day and breathe fresh air, and Josiah’s expectations are understandably at rock bottom. But what does that mean for a parent? Lowered expectations where the only place we could go from here is up! It means that he’s super happy and content with getting greetings from his friends via email, with getting presents from others through motorcycle couriers, with being excited to finish his Zoom classes so he could play a new video game. And my promise to hang out with him, even if in PPE gear so I could get closer to him to play Super Smash Bros., was fulfilled. I was even able to safely give him his birthday spankings, fully gloved of course! Take that Covid!

I tell you, Josiah is the sweetest kid ever who can find joy in the worst of situations. He’s the kid who pretended to be on a boat and sang when that super typhoon ripped our doors open and flooded the house. The one who broke his arm trying to show me a new trick on the monkey bars after having just flown an international flight, literally saying, “Look dad, no hands!” The child who would ride with me on my motorcycle tank to accompany me to a new computer class. That faithful kid who prayed for our broken down car to start when we were stuck in the middle of a moutainous jungle road with not a single home in sight. It started! My boy who religiously tells me before I leave for all my night shifts to, “Go save lives, just don’t die.” So many stories.

This kid is going to change the world…he’s already changed mine. Happy birthday to my little buddy.