Manny's 12th Birthday!

Manny and his 'dirt cake' that our uber creative Christie made for him -- it came complete with worms (gummy ones). He loved it!

My uber talented son-in-law, Kent, drew Manny this awesome card for his birthday. Christie and Kent found some of his favorites: a Simpson's tshirt (similar to the picture of all the characters that Kent drew and has displayed in their diningroom), a knight and a dragon. As he described it, 'SWEET'!


Wow, twelve years! How fast that time has gone by; how many memories have filled those days! Manny often asks me to tell him the story of the day that he was born. Gma Zarling was his mom's coach, I was the chief photographer, Gregg and Christie waited in the hall, and Juan (his dad) was there to be the first to welcome him into the world. We spent the night in the hospital on chairs; I'm not really sure that we slept at all. It was the most magnificent sight to see the glory of God's blessing (rather than being the participant)! Juan cut the cord and then held him in his arms and cried with such joy and amazement. We all immediately fell in love with this little guy and had no idea what an impact on our lives that he would have.


Manny is an artistically gifted child; he sees the world differently, in a visual sense. Seeing the world through the eyes of an artist has provided me the opportunity to see things differently also. So in that way I've been doubly blessed. Manny just doesn't look at the colors of a sunset; he gives them life. Playing pictionary with him has always been a challenge as my stick animals are completely oblivious to him and his depictions of something takes longer than the egg timer permits. His tremendous gift has at times been difficult for him as his thought patterns aren't the same as other kids his age and as often times happens with gifted children, he exhibits ADHD tendencies. His mother has searched for the best doctors, best therapists, best treatments and with her tenacity he's now doing remarkably well. The weird thing about ADHD is that it's a constant moving target so once Carrie feels that she's got it under control he'll have a growth spurt or some other challenge enters his already busy brain and she has to go back to the drawing board. I've heard that once he passes through puberty this constant change won't be as apparent and I pray that will be a smooth transition! For now though, we have learned to detect the signs of an imminent melt-down and attempt to redirect him to more positive feelings.


Do I wish that things were different for him? Yes, and no. He leads a very rich life in ways that are difficult to describe. I am blessed with the fact that God chose to give him to US.