Happy Birthday Benjamin

Twenty three years ago today Benjamin (my middle child)arrived. His birth day was alternately rainy, snow flurries off and on, windy and then sunny, just like his disposition. Here he is on his first birthday, looking quite dapper I must say. The bow tie really gave him a "classy lookl".
A die-hard Red Sox fan from way back when, attending his first Red Sox game at the age of 4 and sitting through it nicely.This is one of my favorite photos. He was 13 years old. This photo was taken by a photographer from a local newspaper and catches him in the air, while throwing the ball. Ben loves baseball and has played since he was 4. He has been on many All-Star teams over the years and Ashton and I have certainly followed the team all over the place. I miss it now.
He was a "Dennis The Menace". I would never know where I would find him, doing whatever suited his fancy or like this photo, sitting with a paper bag on his head (around age 4)or perhaps up in a pine tree! He was about 5 or so in that photo. He was 5 years old in this photo.
Ben had just turned 3 years old when he visited the Easter Bunny.
This photo was taken in 1998 when Ben played on the Maine baseball team at Cooperstown, New York. What an experience he had. He was the team catcher. The boys stayed in a bunkhouse with other teams. The coach called me early one morning at the motel I was staying in that Ben had fallen out of the top bunk the night before but never woke up during the whole experience! He assured me Ben was fine but Coach thought he had better report to Mom! The park was huge with several fields to play on and with teams from all over the country. Ben was chosen to be in the Home Run Derby for the Maine team and that was a big thrill. It was a week that I imagine he will never forget and me either. He is posing with his cousin Stephen who lives in NY and came to watch a game with his parents and baby sister. Ben was 13 years old here. He, Ashton and I visited some friends in The Forks where the kids got to swim, canoe and ride bikes on dirt roads for miles. Ben was my navigator on many road trips.
Here he is feeding a deer at Kokadjo near Moosehead Lake. All animals seem to gravitate towards Ben. Actually BuddyTheElf "chose" Ben to be his master instead of the other way around!
As the family says "Ben being Ben". Ashton is so very lucky to have her two older brothers as they both have always doted on her. They also are very protective of her and would do anything for her. The next photo is of Ashton and Ben when he was 5. He could always get her to smile and laugh.
In the following photo Ben had just turned 9. He and I made our first plane trip across the country to California to visit a sister and her new baby. Ben guided us everywhere through the changing of planes, through O'Hare like he had done it forever and was thrilled to be able to buy a Michael Jordan t-shirt in Chicago. M.J. was Ben's hero for many years. Ben is sporting a newly shaved head. My brother-in-law was stationed at TwentyNine Palms as a Marine and thrilled Ben when he took him for a real "Marine's haircut". Please note that Ben also was sporting new Michael Jordan sneakers we found on sale while in TwentyNine Palms. We had a most wonderful trip together. And my "Dennis the Menace" grew up to go to college and graduate in May 2008 with a degree in Sports Management. The little boy who told me when I gave him a hug after graduation "don't cry Mom", and made me cry even more, the little baby who we almost lost when he was just 3 months old and underwent heart surgery, and the teenager who volunteered as a basketball coach at the Y, who mowed lawns and washed dishes summers, and worried about his sister when she went to school. The little boy who now works for a professional hockey team! Happy, happy Birthday Benjamin love Mom.