My mother had come to California from Texas to help out after Geoff's birth, arriving a couple of days before his due date. As is quite often the case, just because we were all ready for him didn't mean he was ready for us. If memory serves me correctly, Grandma Texas (as she came to be known) had almost exhausted her 2 week vacation from work before Geoff graced us with his appearance. I think Grandma was able to extend the time off for a few extra days while we settled in with our bundle of joy. Having raised 7 children herself, Grandma Texas was a great help those first few days. Geoff wasn't the easiest child, he wasn't the most difficult; but his personality as a caring, sweet person that loved to make others laugh developed very early in his infancy and his love of music was also very apparent from those very first days.
Bruce Springsteen was just hitting his stride when Geoff was but 2 years old. One of my favorite memories of my son was of him performing a spot-on rendition of "Born in the USA" on the staircase of a townhouse with snow falling outdoors at Lake Tahoe in front of family and friends, complete with a guitar made of plastic.
He loved his mother. He loved his sister, Melissa, very much. He tolerated the hair pulling and poking and pinching right along with the loss of attention that comes with a younger sibling and he loved his half-sisters and cousins and his friends and co-workers; and they all loved him.
Grandma Texas had her 83rd birthday this year. She's getting on a plane in August to come to visit us in California.
Melissa is getting married in March, 2015 to a wonderful man of whom Geoff would highly approve, no doubt.
My vision of how I would have been celebrating Geoff's 30th birthday when he was just a young boy would have been on a golf course or at some sporting event. He maybe would have preferred an art gallery or a concert. I'll never know.
Sometimes I see a hummingbird or a butterfly or a rainbow and I think, somehow, Geoff is trying to tell me something, sending me a sign or just keeping an eye on me. I can't know and I don't - I just hope if it is him he never stops. I'll never stop hoping and I will never understand.
It's been my ritual, a pleasant one at that. On the anniversary of each of my children's birth as well as the birth-dates of my grandchildren I've done my best to sing the Happy Birthday song to them over the telephone - if not in person. I have no idea if they look forward to the message as much as I but doing so takes some amount of planning on my part. With family in Australia and California, time zones, work and school schedules and the occasional vacations and holidays there can be obstacles to getting the message delivered in a timely manner. I'm proud to say I have had great success delivering the message more often than not.
About right now I should be doing the calculating to try to figure out the best time to phone Geoff on the 8th of June, to deliver the celebratory tune in a way that would embarrass and please him, simultaneously. I only wish he was there to pick up the phone.
Happy Birthday, Son!
