Happy Birthday to Brett Next Jones

Today, my baby turns 40!  How can that be?  I'm only a few years older which is surprising because he's made more than a few hairs turn gray.   In fact, I've had my own personal expressway to the emergency room with him.  :)

Being mother to this child has been a wild ride.  First, he turned sideways, stuck out his hand, and I had to have a c-section.  I've seen that upturned palm most of his life, trust me.

He should be in Ripley's Believe it or Not for being the only person through whom you can see words pass through one ear and out the other.  This has been the path of most of our discussions.

He was a wonderful surprise, though, seeing as the doctors told us we would probably be the parents of only one child.  He and his brother are 8 years apart, so having Brett was like giving birth to a first child all over again.  I'd given away all my baby stuff, lost all the know-how I ever had, and despite having a normal delivery the first time of a baby weighing almost ten pounds, this one decided to make a grander entrance.

Why does he use "Next" in his name?  That was his father's attempt at humor for a name.  He always told me that if we used that moniker, and a salesperson said, "who's next?"  our son could step up and admit he was.  Of course, I didn't entertain the suggestion, but my son has added Next to his FB name in memory of his dad...but back to Brett.

How many of you have a child hit in the mouth with a horseshoe magnet?  Aren't those supposed to be good luck?  He "accidently" fell on a lincoln log and destroyed his throat...of course his brother's foot had nothing to do with why Brett tripped.  Has your son ever stapled his boot to his leg...entertained you while driving a truck of dead horses around with one teetering on the back?  (He worked at a rendering plant...he really doesn't slaughter horses.)  Did your son use your credit card to buy his friends gasoline?  Did your child cover a hole in the wall with a sexy poster that breathed when the wind blew?  Did he swear to the police he didn't own a BB gun then fail to explain why his bedroom screen was peppered with holes? Of course not.  I have the original and one and only.

 I could continue with the saga of his life, but this post would then become a book, so I'll stop here and simply add, I wouldn't change one thing about him...except maybe his stubborness, and I thank God every day for giving me Brett.

Happy Birthday wonder boy!