Happy Birthday Marco

Today is Marco’s 19^th birthday or one of the two happiest days of my life-my sons’ birthdays. I am well on my way to having survived his teenage years I told him the other day. He sort of smiled when I reminded him of what I told him 5 years ago- Good luck kid, I’ll be here when you come out the other side of it into adulthood. In the meantime, I’ll try not to get too close to you or those really annoying teenage things you are gonna do. Sullen little suckers they become right?

This year I can’t help but think back on my baby as he enters adulthood and wonder, “Where the f*&^ did that kid go!” Kidding!! A few weeks ago to push my buttons Marco told me he had a terrible childhood and it was all my fault. Really? He must have forgotten his mother owns a video transfer business. I played our home movies from when he was a baby on up and sent him a text saying- get in here and see just what a damn, happy childhood you had! He laughed. No, he didn’t come in. (Like how I got the plug in for my video transfer to DVD business? Yes, shameless self promotion R US).

Today it’s my baby who I remember most. I got sent home two weeks before my due date. Apparently the powers that be at Customs didn’t like me fighting outright with a few of the absolute morons that worked for me. I guess the pregnancy hormones wiped out my usual patience and pleasantness in the face of abject stupidity. True story, the head of Customs in LA at the time, called me personally and said please go home, have that baby, we’ll see you next year.

My mom was here from New York for the birth and walked me around the mall for hours the day before since it’s supposed to induce labor. All it did was induce irritation. I remember the night of April 13 being out in my backyard looking at the Hale Bop comet go by and thinking, please I don’t care if he arrives in a damn spaceship, just get this kid here.

By 1:30am I was at the hospital and at 4:16pm Marco was born. At the time I was an avid Mad About You TV show fan. There was the episode when she is giving birth about getting the ‘good room’.  Little Company of Mary had these tiny birth rooms but one really big nice good room. I asked for it as soon as I got there but it was occupied. So I spent the next several hours torturing the nurses and Craig to keep checking on when it was available. Yes, I got the good room, as sedating me was illegal I’m sure. My mom wanted to be there for the birth of my son. I got the biggest kick out of her being absolutely fascinated by it especially since she had five kids of her own.

I can still see Marco’s unbelievably huge head and I mean UNBELIEVABLY huge head and those deep brown eyes looking up at me for the first time with the most expressive eyes I have ever seen on a baby.  “I got this. It’s not my first time at this rodeo. Really? You? You’re gonna be my mother?”

I have to tell him today that being his mother has been an absolute pleasure. He was so attached to me when he was little and so fun and cute and incredibly smart. We loved his Marcoisms. Chocolate milk was always called Andy milk cause he drank it all the time and Marco was always wanting some. When Marco was five he couldn’t remember the name of the A Beautiful Mind video that I was returning and asked if I had returned, A Wonderful Brain. When he was about three or four, he asked his Aunt Sandy if she happened to be his cousin Cheryl’s (her daughter’s) friend.   We still call her Cheryl’s friend Sandy.

I am really proud of him. We tease, we fight, we bust balls as only me and my kids can do, but he knows that I love him with all my heart. Although he tells me I talk way too much and have way too much to say, nothing he can ever do or say will change that!! So here’s to my almost adult child’s 19^th birthday!! Love Mom!!

GRAMMAR DISCLAIMER: I love perfect grammar, I do but I have come to really hate the quotation marks you need to put around speech. Much of my posts are talking in nature and honestly I don’t really feel like thinking about quotation mark placement any more.  Kids don’t try this at home or you may fail some English classes but honestly I am just so over quotation marks.