The Day of the Ladybug

Last night, my son asked me to help him clean out his back pack. I do this occasionally anyway, so I was pleased that he was the one suggesting it for a change. There were lots of scratch paper to throw away and three days of sack lunches he had failed to finish. I was reproaching him about eating all of his lunch when I came across something that was a bit disconcerting.

In his blue folder, the "folder of secrets" apparently, I discovered a sheet that contained more than twenty names for common street drugs. Rock, ganja, and windowpane were just a few of the words that I read aloud. After reading each, my son told me the corresponding drugs: "Crack...marijuana...LSD."

At first, I admit, my heart was pounding. What was my eleven-year-old up to at school? How did my kid know these words; words I've tried to shelter him from for years. The answer is D.A.R.E..

I guess it's a good thing that he knows the different names of drugs so the next time someone asks him, "Hey man, you want some ice?" He can say, "No thanks," and possibly suffer from the ambiguity of the names of today's drugs and pass out from the sweltering, August heat. (thanks Richie)

I miss the day of the ladybug. When my son was four, he was obsessed with ladybugs. He would scream like a swooning girl in the front row of a Beetles' concert everytime he saw one of those little red specks on a blade of grass. I bought him everything ladybug: beanie babies, puppets and books. He couldn't get enough ladybug. Now it's: here a crank, there a crank everywhere a crank crank. They grow up fast, don't they?

I love you, Boots.

This is Richie's song for me

THE GIFTS THAT SHE GAVE ME

She sits all alone, with her feet in the water
Trying so hard not to smile
She knew I was watching, and desperately wanting
For her to sit with me for a while

It took 15 years, or shyness and fears
For us to finally go on that date
Little did we know, how well it would go
It was the night that sealed our fate

CHORUS:

The gifts that she gave me
She's so amazing
She's the best thing in my life
The gifts that she gave me
She's having my baby
I'm proud to have her as my wife


I've watched her become even more beautiful
I've loved her for so many years
Now she's my bumble, she makes me humble
One look at her brings me to tears

We went to the ocean, exchanged our emotions
I vowed to always love you
So I thank you baby, for all the gifts that you gave me
A chance to be the father of two

Richie and I. 

This is a song I wrote for Richie

FOR LIFE

These bands on our fingers
Stand for something bigger
That neither of us
Expected to find.

This bond between us
Means more than a name
Of husband or wife.
This love's for life.

Can you take out the trash, Dear,
After I cut your hair?
Doesn't matter what we do
As long as I'm with you.
When we're holding our child's hand
Or playing in the sand.

Wherever life takes us,
I know we can make it.
No matter the weather,
Let's stay together.