.Happy 31st Birthday to My Middle Son, Alexander Vukasinovic - August 27, 2013

It hardly seems possible that another year has passed and your birthday - the 31st - has 

arrived.  This has been quite a momentous year in your life.  On April 14, 2013, your 

two brothers, Shawn and Jeremy, and I ( plus several other interested parties ) were

at the Sutter Hospital Birthing Center in Roseville, CA, to welcome the arrival of my

first grandchild, the most precious Harper Ann Vukasinovic, weighing in at 8 lbs.  That

wasn't an overwhelming surprise as you weighed 8 lbs, 9 oz when you were born.

Laura was a real trooper and I was so thrilled to have a girl in a family of so many

males ( thank you for contributing the appropriate chromosone! ).

Here you are in your baptismal photo...no 

one can see the gobs of gel I put on to tame

your cowlick!!!

Here you and Laura are on your May 10, 2010

wedding day - one of the happiest of my life.

At the birthing center with your brothers, Shawn Smith, 42,

( left ) and Jeremy Vukasinovic, 28 ( right ).  For once,

everyone has a smile.

And here you are, Dad, shortly after Harper Ann's arrival

This is one of my favorite photos of you, with Harper

slung over your shoulder, sound asleep.

While you are taking your own sweet time with finishing college - is the 

major now math with a minor in economics?  I can never keep up.  You may

well graduate, finally, with more credits than any student ever has accumulated!

But the end is in sight.  

I am so proud of the young man you are.  You and Laura already bought a home

( a year before you married ), you manage an incredibly difficult work schedule and

class, and you seem to have taken on fatherhood with great ease.  You manage 

your finances in a way I never could seem to do.

On this birthday, I am in India but I will be home for Harper's first birthday,

hopefully with her Christmas stocking complete.  From 7000 miles away, 

dearest Alex, I wish you all the best life can bring.  You are well on your way

to have it.

In fact, about the only complaint I have is that you don't get on skype enough so

I can visit with my granddaughter and two granddogs.  Otherwise, you are

one terrific son.

All my love and best wishes on this birthday and every day of your life. 

Mom

Homework

I wonder if my boys will ever be finished with school.  My son, Alex, went away to UC Davis, with plans to become an electrical engineer.  He changed his mind his first semester, left Davis, transferred to a junior college so he could play football and got a job at the nearby Safeway.  He decided he wanted to take fire technology, ultimating hoping to be a firefighter.  He completed that training and was almost finished with paramedic training when he decided that was boring and quit.  He is still working at Safeway and pursuing a degree in Spanish.

Jeremy, my middle son, went to a junior college from the outset, got an associates degree in fire technology, also hoping, ultimately to become a firefighter, then transferred to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA, getting a BS in kinesiology.  Now he's talking about going back for a masters degree in kinesiology.

My oldest son, Shawn, didn't get his electrical engineering degree until he was thirty-four years old.  He's never worked a day in that field yet!  He's been an Air Force reservist for fifteen years and, in that capacity, works on the computer system, first for the C5 aircraft, and then for C17s.  Now, he's talking about going for his masters through the Air Force! 

I had them and a few friends in mind when I wrote this poem last year.

Homework

For the eternal scholar,

Homework is never done,

A lifetime of assignments,

Interfere with having fun.

When I started nursery school,

My mom felt really smart,

She thought homework even then,

Was a brilliant thing to start!

The elementary grades went by,

In a myopic homework daze,

My efforts turned in daily,

Rarely got me praise!

High school made me crazy,

With home work getting worse,

Little time for social life,

And none for penning verse!

College woes befell me,

And linger as I write,

With homework and assignments,
Piling high each night.

I see a silver lining,

Not far ahead of me

In June, I finally graduate,

And have my PhD!

Carmen Henesy

Copyright © 2009 Carmen Henesy. All Rights Reserved.