May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
Excerpt from Bob Dylan's fine tune "Forever Young
Today is Anna’s birthday. She turned all of eleven. Yesterday she asked me to wake her up earlier than normal for school. She said she wanted to enjoy every last hour of being ten. Ah, the innocence of youth.
Its become sort of a personal tradition for me to node something to her on her birthday. I don’t know why that is. Chances are she’ll never get to read it until long after I’m gone but if E2 does manage to hang around until she’s old enough to venture here on her own, it would be nice to have something permanent that she could reference back to her old man. Even though the words to this song don’t belong to me, the sentiments surely do.
She's been through a lot this year, more than any ten year old deserves. She’s seen too many close calls thanks to yours truly and had some people that she know's die along the way. Maybe it hasn't registered just yet or maybe she's putting on one of those false fronts but she's managed to keep her smile throughout most of it.
I won't get to see her today because it's her mom's turn in the batting order but I spoke to her on the phone already this morning. I wanted my voice to be one of the first ones she heard.
May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
Lately, since I spend many evenings sleeping on the couch out of pure laziness, she's taken to going to bed and then coming downstairs after she knows I'm asleep. She then pulls out her sleeping bag and cuddles up on the floor. She says she "worried" about me.
Sometimes I think I've grown too old too fast to fit her lifestyle. She's eleven, she shouldn't have a care in the world about whether her dad makes it through the night or not.
So here's my birthday gift honey. It's not wrapped up in a fancy package with ribbons and bows. It's nothing you can listen to, (you got those already) and it's nothing you can read like a book or show to your friends. It's nothing you can plug into the wall or spread out on a table. It's nothing more than a some words and a promise.
For as long as I'm around and for as long as you remember me, I'll do my best to try and stay Forever Young.