What do you give a 27 year old for his birthday?

Our first-born son turned 27 on September 3^rd.  Seems like a long time ago.  I can remember the excitement of weekly child-birth classes, listening to others stories about what to expect, and then finally getting all the uncertainties answered with the final words in wee hours of the morning – “You need to get to the hospital as quickly as you can.”

It was “come on let’s go” when we hung up the phone from Dr. Baker’s council.  We grabbed the pre-packed bag and hit the road.  We arrived at Chowan Hospital and for several hours moved closer to the birth of a son.  After the 4 o’clock hour in the afternoon of that third day of September, we saw Joshua for the first time. 

It seems quite strange that this Labor Day weekend would mean his 27^th. What do you get a son whose 27?  Undergarments, socks, or toiletries?   Guitar strings, a gift card, or a shirt he may not wear?  Joy suggested the perfect gift – a personal visit from his pop.

I searched the net and found the best price on Tuesday morning.  Tuesday afternoon I hit the road and spent the night with our second-born, Abigail Ruth.  We shared a meal at a Jamaican cuisine in the Capital city and, as the sun rose on Wednesday morning, I made haste to Raleigh Durham International.

My plane touched down in the afternoon, I caught a ride with a Seattle pastor, and positioned myself behind Joshua’s desk at his University job site.  Within two minutes of my sitting he rounded the corner. Surprised?  Oh yes!  He showed me several shades of red and smiled bigger than life.

We began a 3-day gift of sharing time with each other.  It came real easy – heart to heart conversations, meals shared, and reflections of all the time that had passed so quickly since that day in ’83.  I even found the courage to say something that I had long-wanted to say, “I’m sorry for the lack of times like this in the early years.” I felt that was needed. He didn’t seem to agree, but I saw it as part of my gift.

Why do we miss the things that are most-important sometime?  Why do we misplace priority? Why do we…..?  Well, I don’t know why, but I know that even when your son is 27 a hike in the mountains is in order.  Talkin’ over a cheeseburger, or taking a walk out on the waterfront pier before our last night’s clock strikes midnight seems to work well too.

The kind of gift that’s wrapped in love is the easiest one to purchase, yet the hardest one for us to give – time that is.  We closed our last night with Josh sitting on the sofa strummin’ his 6-string and singing songs about relationship.

Happy Birthday Josh!  Thanks for the gift.