Patrick Perry... Fifteen years and counting...

Fifteen years ago today I was pacing at the hospital, completely horrified and not able to think of anything for more than a few seconds...

Julie was pregnant, the night before I was playing video games and she walked into the den and told me that she was having contractions. This had happened a couple of times, so I asked her how far apart they were and what she thought. She told me that they were about an hour apart and that she didn't know if it was "it" or not. She settled into my chair as I sat on the floor playing games, took my pocket watch and began to time the pains. I asked her if she thought we should go to the hospital and she told me that she didn't think so... A couple of hours later I told her that I was going to bed, asked how she was doing and headed off telling her to call me if she needed me.

The next morning I woke up and got ready for work. I headed into the den expecting to see her asleep on the couch. What met my sight was her sitting in the exact same position that I had left her in the night before.

"Are you still having pains?"
"Yep"
"Well how how far apart are they?"
"About five minutes..."
"Holy shit what do we do, who do we call, oh god oh god oh god..."

We made our way to the hospital a bit after seven A.M. and a bit after noon, Patrick was born. I had not decided whether or not I was going to be in the delivery room, and had full intentions of remaining... Yet when the staff went into action and it turned into a scene from Trauma Center.. I ran like hell... My sister stayed in the room with her. We didn't know what gender the baby was and had picked out names. I waited and paced and smoked and worried about everything. My sister emerged some time later and said, "We have a Patrick!!"

I was frightened of everything and barely remember all that took place... The procedures and hours that followed were a blur.. The moment that it all caught up to us, was when we left the hospital and got in the car. He was sitting in his car seat, with just his eyes poking up over the edge of the buckle holding him in... I laughed like you wouldn't believe... The look he had on his face clearly said, "What in the hell have you people done to me.." as he glanced back and forth from me to Julie...

Patrick was an extremely good baby and toddler.. the most laid back child I have ever met. When he started school I told Julie that if we got any sort of notes from teachers about him needing to be on Ritalin I would laugh.. If that kid had been anymore laid back he would've oozed right off the couch into a puddle on the floor... One of my favorite video moments is when I filmed walking down the hall into the front room one afternoon during the summer and he was kicked back on the couch, in only a diaper, with his legs crossed, one hand behind his head and a bottle in the other, steady drinking... I panned from him to the television as he watched the ubiquitous barney tape that never left his side... as I returned to him in the shot, he gave me the same look that he did in the car when we first brought him home.

Being first time parents we worried about everything and felt like we fell short with him constantly, but as with everyone, time went by and we learned... The first time he ran a serious fever we stayed up around the clock in a state of panic for a couple of days... First time parents.. heh.. In comparison, when James had his first serious fever it was, "Give him some Tylenol and toss him in bed... Where's the remote?"

Throughout his childhood we watched as he developed through daycare and family and spent time alone and with friends.. We read to him constantly... and let him do things that he wanted to do, with guidance when we felt he needed it.

Now what we are faced with is a very good kid, he does anything that we ask. Being fifteen today he is absolutely full of teen attitude, but then it's that time for him to have it and I won't begrudge him that experience... His latest kick is to get a Mohawk... I told him that he could if he wanted to, just to be ready for the shit... he will be made fun of and the teachers will probably send him out and we will probably get a call... but hey, you're only young once... the only line I will draw is a tattoo... he must be at least eighteen and on his own before he gets one of those.. and I must be the one to do it...

Patrick is a very polite guy, very kind and has an extremely tender heart. We share a love of gory movies, reading and old video games, I say old because he can kick my butt at anything that came out in the last ten years... I have relayed stories to him about our past and have taught him a few things that I hope will serve him well, but I let him make his own decisions on most things... Little mistakes are ok, and you learn from them..

He helps out around the house as slave labor and watches his little brother.. they fight like cats and dogs, but he will protect James with his life.. and that's just how brothers should be...

Happy birthday Patrick, I love you....

Now take the garbage out...