November 22nd an Important Day in History

It is the 22nd of November 2013. Many will spend the day thinking about what happened on November 22, 1963. It was a day that changed America. How we saw the world. I am focused on a different November 22nd. It was November 22, 1981. It is the day our youngest son John was born. You might wonder if he was named after John F. Kennedy. It had nothing to do with his name, it was just a coincidence. It is a family name. His uncle, grandfather, great grandfather, great great grandfather and beyond were all named John. Since my brothers had no sons we named him John. He has three girls so he named his youngest daughter Johnnie.

John and Johnnie

John

The last picture is of John and a friend of mine Thomas (Sodbuster) O'Connor. Tom was helping John out in this picture from 1991 when John was 10. We lived on the farm and John was raising cattle or hogs at the time and Tom was assisting with transportation. John took care of his own livestock, paid the bills for feed and handled his venture well. He had a state ID card and a checking account. We were with him at the mall one time and he had to come get one of us because a store wouldn't believe he had his own checking account. We convinced them that he could afford the gift he was trying to buy his mom.

So today is one of those days where you feel kinda old. Your youngest child is in his 30's and has children as old as he is in the last picture. Where did the time go? So many things that could have been done that weren't. So many things that were done that maybe shouldn't have been. Neither of those things can be changed. All that can be hoped for at this time is that somehow here or there as we moved through those years we did something to change things for the better. Touched and changed someone's life for the better. While today's post is about this child, our youngest, we are proud of all three of our children and the adults they have grown up to be.

So while most today will dwell on the death of a John that changed America. I will be thinking about the birth of a John who changed my life. Who made it better, richer and fuller than I could have imagined 32 years ago. Happy birthday!