Happy Birthday, Secret Agent Man!

My second son turns 21 today. Secret Agent Man, as his name implies, lives his life sort of privately. When he was "the baby", which only last about two and a half years before a newer baby came along, he used to be very possessive of me. He would always say, "MY mama!" When Social Animal was born, he was incredibly dismayed...actually he seemed a bit put out for quite a few years - haha! Now, he is a man, going to school, inviting his friends over to decimate the refrigerator, taking the best care of the dog, his fish, and sometimes his littlest brother. But he tends not to sit around visiting with the family. He is almost always doing his thing with his people. When I think back, he was a bit like that even as a little boy, off on his own. Sometimes I feel like we don't talk enough...or more specifically, that I don't make enough of an effort to make him talk to me. Still, I do feel close to him in many ways. I can certainly sympathize with the impulse to be an individual within a large family. I put up this same picture not too long ago, but am putting it up again, because it is the only one of Secret Agent Man that I have on my computer here.

Happy 21st Birthday to my Autumn Baby, Secret Agent Man.