Another Birthday has come and gone

He is a good uncle whose love is more than returned in kind

This time our youngest.  Or as we like to call him, our little Catholic gift.  Nine years behind his next older brother, he has probably had it toughest of the bunch.  At least in terms of the context of his growing up.  In fact, he has spurred a debate in our family for some time.  Is it better to have had and lost, than never had at all?

In this case, the three older boys did pass the first decade or so of their lives in normal, middle class living.  We did the American middle class things.  My parents were still around and we visited them.  We took long trips to see my wife's family.  We went on family vacations.  Did things through the year.  Sports and school activities.  Of course church activities goes without saying.  Then we came into the Catholic Church. 

But by the time our youngest was beginning to be aware, we were entering into our half decade of hell.  And not just because of vast, societal and global events and economic collapses.  Some of it was just timing.  As the youngest by almost nine years on both sides of my family myself, I know the feeling of hearing tales of how the families all got together once upon a time.  Of seeing old photos where all the grandparents and uncles and aunts and cousins were falling out of windows at any event that took place.  And then only seeing a smattering of that by the time I cam along, until almost nobody was left to see my kids or attend my wedding. 

Nonetheless, his brothers did yeoman's work bringing him in and trying to make him part of the four.  And this gave him a spunky spirit to be sure.  He's not afraid to stand up to people three times his size.  Though he sometimes struggled finding that balance, as often happens when kids grow up fast or are surrounded by grownups.  The maturity sometimes lagging behind the experience. 

But I think he's come out looking pretty good.  As the only one in the family born into the Catholic Church, he tends to embrace the whole package of Catholicism more smoothly than those of us from other backgrounds.  He also loves tech, and we're trying to impress upon him the wisdom of pursuing a career in that direction.  Not just physical tech, he loves the history, and can tell you how the sound was mixed when you're watching a movie, or the development of this or that video style, or what have you.  He also loves mixing sound and audio and, to a lesser extend, video.  He's gotten into a serious Beatles kick recently.  Which makes sense.  Diving into the world of audio recording and mixing and not studying the Beatles would be like diving into the space program and not studying NASA.

Apart from his unbridled hatred of all things Windows 11, he's also handy with building and fixing PCs.  As well as video came consoles.  Since he's the last one home with my wife and me, it's a bit of a change.  Though as always, his brothers continue to come through and make sure they're there with him when they can, even as their own lives are going strong in new directions.  Which, as always, can't help but make me glad.  So a blessed birthday year for him, and I must say, all is right with the world.  

With him here alone, it has given my wife a chance to step in and share times in ways she
didn't always do when the four were home together and doing things with me.

It captures his general pensiveness