This year’s birthday selfie was a little more difficult than the past few have been. It’s kind of hard to look at one’s self and accept the consequences of a year filled with stress and a seemingly non-stop schedule. I have more hair than last year. Mostly in the chin region.
While I was standing in the living room feeling all weird about being 35 and taking pictures of myself, Jessica was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on my second birthday cake of the week. She’d made one earlier just in case our baby came on time. He didn’t, which meant I needed a new cake for my birthday on the day of. Jessica takes holidays and birthdays pretty seriously and she makes some of the best cakes around, so I don’t argue about whether or not two birthday cakes is over-indulgent. This particular self-portrait is an outtake. I was enjoying watching her do her cake work, while my yet-to-be-born son bumped into the counter top. On a technical tangent: apparently, it’s possible to take a self-candid by setting a camera timer then being distracted by how cute and sweet one’s pregnant wife is.
Tomorrow, that incredible woman will be giving birth to our son. Labor will be induced sometime after we check in at 7am. While I’ve worked myself to the bone this past year and don’t really see an end in sight; I do feel a certain amount of weight being lifted. Everyone will tell you when you’re expecting to “get ready, because your life is about to change forever” or “you better rest, because you won’t after he gets here”. I could have done without hearing that for the 789th time, but my response lately is “good”. Change is good and change forever is even better. Many of those changes have already occurred. Our son has brought us closer together, our son has shed light on dreams we’d forgotten about, our son has ignited new energy in my work, our son has provided safe harbor from storms we were beginning to think had no end.
Tomorrow my life changes forever?
Thank You God.
-JG