You Are the One (Ode to My Superhero)

“There’s a boy who stole my heart.  He calls me mom.”  (I have no idea where this came from)

YOU ARE THE ONE, Joshua Brian Goetz, who burst on the scene on April 4, 1996, weighing in at 9 pounds and 13 ounces (yikes!).

YOU ARE THE ONE who started out with baby acne and a fairly largish head and I felt mild pity for (just being honest) and a lot of extra love.

YOU ARE THE ONE who became the most adorable baby with your year-long toothless smile (so much for my pity party).

YOU ARE THE ONE who took three naps until you were one, giving this tired mommy a much-needed respite from handling three little ones under five!

 

 

YOU ARE THE ONE who sat with books in your crib for hours, happily “reading.” (Little did we know then that you are a high introvert and this was your plot to have some peace and quiet away from your hovering and excitable siblings.)

YOU ARE THE ONE who would only color with the orange crayon.

YOU ARE THE ONE who had all 150 Pokemon characters memorized and their “moves” when you were only three!

YOU ARE THE ONE we called Spot because you have had EVERY. SINGLE. POSSIBLE. RASH known to the medical community (you just had another one two months ago)!

YOU ARE THE ONE who hid behind the couch every time I left the room and jumped out and yelled “SURPRISE!” when I returned (one of my all-time best memories)!

YOU ARE THE ONE who wore some kind of cape everywhere we went, which morphed from a bandana to a full-fledged home-made BAT cape!  You were my little superhero for sure!

YOU ARE THE ONE who drew on the hood of our friend’s brand new SAAB with a rock you found (cha-ching, cha-ching).

YOU ARE THE ONE that ONLY wanted a State Quarter Map for Christmas when you were four (we still have it in your room and it is full of quarters)!

YOU ARE THE ONE who organized all your outfits in your drawers and were mildly (okay, not so mildly) obsessed with shoes for years and years and years (who gets Famous Footwear gift certificates when they are just a young boy)!

YOU ARE THE ONE who fell sledding and ended up in a country hospital emergency room with stitches (which I had to take out because we moved three days later)!

YOU ARE THE ONE who asked this question when you were just 5 1/2:  “Mom, if Jesus was Jewish, did He believe in Himself?”

YOU ARE THE ONE who did a cannonball into our indoor tub (it was kind of a big tub; I will grant you that).

YOU ARE THE ONE who filled our house with singing.  I knew you were sick when it stopped and you were better when it started up again (you still sing today)!

YOU ARE THE ONE who always had a bucket and a net in your hand, catching all the creatures in lakes, gardens, ponds, rivers, and our backyard!

YOU ARE THE ONE who was rushed to the emergency room with a tonsil abscess and needles were poked into your throat and you threw up all over the doctor!  You obviously lived to tell the tale!

YOU ARE THE ONE who had every kind of lizard and reptile as a pet (from anoles to geckos to bearded dragons).

YOU ARE THE ONE who was Hot Rod Hanson in the summer musical, girls swooning around you as you belted out your notes.

YOU ARE THE ONE who almost caught our house on fire with your water gun filled with lighter fluid in one hand and the BIC grill lighter in the other.

YOU ARE THE ONE who was fascinated by your lacrosse stick, walking constantly around the house with it, and eventually figuring out how to string it yourself!

YOU ARE THE ONE who made weird faces when playing on your game system, your mouth moving in all the directions of the controller.

YOU ARE THE ONE who broke your clavicle because you were chosen to play in a lacrosse tournament with the big kids.  Emergency room #3!

YOU ARE THE ONE who was Gaston in the middle school play, Beauty and the Beast, again girls swooning around you as you belted out your notes (this time right before your voice changed – Gaston never sounded so feminine – and I don’t think “every last inch of you was covered with hair”)!

YOU ARE THE ONE who played on four basketball teams in Eighth Grade (no wonder your grades slipped into an uncomfortable place for this mama)!

YOU ARE THE ONE who watched the Office non-stop for about four years (I think you are still watching it).

YOU ARE THE ONE who grew about eight inches in one year, going from one of the shorter guards on your basketball team to one of the “big men.”

YOU ARE THE ONE who was obsessed with purple and penguins and hats (with the flat brim) and game systems and legos.

YOU ARE THE ONE who had a kids’ Batman backpack all of high school (yes, even into your senior year)!

YOU ARE THE ONE who had a 1 in 100,000 people knee injury your junior year playing basketball.  After surgery, nine months of recovery and two more surgeries, we are crossing our fingers it’s finally healed!

YOU ARE THE ONE who got your ears pierced at sixteen much to my chagrin (you did take care of them much to my happy surprise – and you don’t wear them any more much to my “I-don’t-care-anymore-what-you-do” attitude).

YOU ARE THE ONE who bought kitten and lamb folders for your senior school year (you never ever ever ever ever cared about what anyone thought about you).

YOU ARE THE ONE who wrapped your arms around me one day when I was afraid and said, “It’s all going to be okay, Mom”  (I recall you doing that again just last week).

YOU ARE THE ONE who beat everyone at Poker all the time.  Enough said.

YOU ARE THE ONE who told your basketball coach not to put you in the starting line up your Senior Year, that you wanted to be the Sixth Man coming off the bench (WHO DOES THAT?!?).

YOU ARE THE ONE who proudly donned your “Raritan Valley Community College” t-shirt on “Decision Day,” while all your friends sported their VIP universities.

YOU ARE THE ONE who broke your hand playing in a Charity game and pretended your cast was a fashion accessory.  (Most of our mom/son memories have come in that “room” at the doctor waiting endlessly for the knock on the door.  We have had more than enough time to solve all the world’s problems).

YOU ARE THE ONE who wore a Batman shirt under your prom tux and painted (well Sarah painted) the Batman symbol on your graduation cap, a constant reminder of the superhero that you are!

YOU ARE THE ONE who took a Gap Year before you went to college, again being your own person and not falling in line with everyone else.  (It was one of the best decisions you’ve ever made and we loved having the bonus time with you.)

YOU ARE THE ONE who jumped off a fifty-foot cliff into the waters of the Pacific Ocean on a whim (so so so glad I found out about this after you lived through it).

YOU ARE THE ONE who built your own computer with Lego Batman holding up the graphics card.

YOU ARE THE ONE who decided to major in psychology even though you don’t like people all that much.  Of course.  Of course.

YOU ARE THE ONE who wants to know a million random facts about anything and everything from why non-poisonous snakes flatten their heads when they are threatened to whether or not “pronunciate” is a real word (those are just the two from this past week).

YOU ARE THE ONE who became fixated on headphones and you actually write reviews on the internet for the subculture of headphone lovers.  (Your college graduation gift is to get custom headphones made for your unique ears.)

YOU ARE THE ONE who did not walk at your college graduation because ceremonies just don’t cut it for you.

YOU ARE THE ONE who I can talk to about everything spiritual, cerebral and you always have an opinion about the subject matter at hand (kind of like your mama).  Our banter is my favorite.

YOU ARE THE ONE who is still pulling Batman shirts over your head some mornings (I personally think you are way cooler than Batman)!

YOU ARE THE ONE who I am so thankful to have shared the last 25 years with.   There is no one else quite like you.  Really.  Seriously.  No one.

YOU ARE THE ONE who will always march to the beat of your own drum (or play a completely different instrument).

YOU ARE THE ONE who has stolen my heart.

YOU ARE THE ONE who calls me mom.

YOU ARE THE ONE who is my personal superhero!

Happy Birthday!!