Howdy,
Happy Birthday, Titus!
Today, today, is finally the actual day, Ti’s birth date. Feels like finally since we already held his party a week ago and have talked a lot about his special day to come.
Today it’s here. He’s three years old.
We’ve also often alluded to or straight-up shared generously about Ti’s great, winsome smile, which is so generous in its own right.
(That engaging smile of his is the one that has his mother and me concerned for his future, as in, the one that will keep him from ever dating. Lots of charm in that boy, in that smile — when he’s not being a lovable little stink. 😉 Actually, that can sometimes be when the “charm” can come out. Winsome with a wink, that smile with a whiff of stink. I’m aware tone can be hard to get across correctly in written communication, and I always want to be careful not to be communicating a cut against one of our kids, which is why I say a lovable stink. Which is what I mean, and he can be both. Our smiley Ti is a talented little tyke. Besides, he was in that twos stage for a year; and it wasn’t terrible. Sure, it had its times of testing, but I’d never want to label that year negatively or with easy-pickings alliteration. You know how I sometimes shy from sentences showing signs of alliteration and such selections of style like some so-and-so …)
What is really cute is seeing Titus smile when he’s being sung to by those he knows love him. I’ve seen it at least four times over this last week.
He was absolutely beaming — in a super-shy way, but transparently delighted nonetheless — when we all sung to him at his birthday party (and it must be meaningful to him for the lyrics and the heart behind it, because, musically, I was pitching in with the singing. He wasn’t smiling at my warbling style or skill — though I very well may dare say that we as a group sounded good: with, hold on, with, the saving acknowledgement that, Uncle Matt is quite proficient at leading us into the family rounds of Happy Birthday. Though even that sometimes is not enough to rectify or redeem. Although Titus seemed to treasure it.
Later Ti listened in a stilled and glorious state of being enraptured to a recorded message of Happy Birthday and a wonderful toast of spoken encouragement in uplifting personal messages from Uncle Casey and Aunt Corrie, a duet family-famous for their HB renditions, recorded and texted for keepsake. On the spot, my mom said we should have had video of him hearing the message so Casey and Corrie (C&C as we like to say) could have seen it. True. That would have been cool to have and to share with them. A great moment, and it was neat that his birthday party guests got to witness it.
And today Epa and Grandma called Ti and sang Happy Birthday to him and he smiled that shy smile again and could only whisper into the phone the whole conversation, more so just moving his mouth with no sound more than anything (not working over the phone but precious for me watching with him inside my car, as it’s absolutely amazing how quiet and shy he can also be, enduring and sweet). It was HB with my mom’s always choice of the last line “God’s blessings on you …”
Finally, this evening, a smaller group of us — Sarah, Jasper, Riah, Grammabel, and I — sang to him before candles in cookies and another gift. Smaller group, still a big Ti smile.
Happy Birthday TO YOU, Titus Shalom Hawes!
—Billy
Reading. Writing. Living.
Word Count: 55,792 / On Pace: 56,650 / Year’s Goal: 200,000
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