Passages

Tomorrow, my boy, will celebrate his 30th brthday, a little more than 22 years after I first met him through photos and a description from an adoption agency. The agency, Love the Children, described Kim Hyo Yoel (his Korean name which we were told stands for Hot Brother Kim) as an earnest young man with great ability in Mathematics. The agency was considering several children for us, including incredibly precocius twins, and a young girl. Paul was placed with us because I was a banker; bankers use math; therefore, it would be a perfect placement.

From that green-faced skinny boy at JFK to the confident, handsome young man he has become, it has not always been a smooth path but the destination has made it all worth while.

So here's to you Paul, without you:

• your Friends, at your birthday parties, would never have gotten an early look at all the popular Christmas gifts for that year;
• your mother, would never have been introduced to the benefits of Rolaids and Tums after eating Kim Chee;
• your Grandpa S. would naver have had the pleasure of explaining to you that extravagant promises cannot be kept;
• you Grandpa A. would never have had the joy of teaching a non-English speaker the rules of Chess;
• you Father would never have swelled with pride when you donated a whiskey bottle full of pennies, that you had found, to a special elementay school charity
• Innumerable dogs and cats would never have known your healing touch and big heart.

Happy Birthday kiddo! Now go clean your house so your Mom can visit without her dust allergy causing wheezing (just kidding, honest!)!