Dear Tucker,
This year you will spend another birthday on stage!
While you are far from a billowing bale of bovine fodder, we cannot wait to see you play the Scarecrow in Oz all weekend. And we will keep the birthday candles away from your costume ;)
It's been a real gift to have a front row seat as all of your talents emerge.
You are sixteen and six feet tall and nearly sovereign. You can drive a car and write a convincingly persuasive essay on Blues music, you can balance a chemical equation and clean your fish tank fairly thoroughly. I love that you still ask for help with things like laundry and locating "lost" items, that you let me make you hot tea with honey in the mroning. You are lean and muscly, hormones having burnt off any hint of baby fat, but we both know your behavior matters way more than your appearance.
You have the biochemical blessing of a bright disposition, steadily radiating goodness wherever you go. Your peers, and their parents and your teachers, recognize kindness in you. You have surplus stage presence, and confidence in almost any situation. You stand with your feet planted, naturally unafraid of taking up space in the world. But also with arms and eyes and ears wide open to opinions and possibilities... You know there's not a bible verse to explain everything, you know the universe is large and fascinating and mysterious; I admire both your spinefulness and your comfort with uncertainty.
You've got so many gears turning. You have a great sense of humor, and an interesting accumulation of random facts. You are skilled at pleasant conversation and also fine hanging out in comfortable silence. You are such a giver: a thought, a chance, a damn. Feeling like you don't know who you are all the time is okay too, it's part of growing up and paramount to being human.
Into what shapes will you push the straw of your body next, I wonder? I promise I'm trying to shut off the advice valve and just listen... You are wise and intelligent and can trust yourself to make good decisions. You have a marvelous brain and a generous heart and courage to spare. And we could not have more love for you.
xoxoxo Mom
