Morning Folks 05 21 07

Today is a very special day. Bill, my baby, is 30 today. I just can't believe it. I spent a lot of time going through old pictures of Bill. I wish there was enough room to include more. It was lots of fun and brought a tear to my eye more than once. So here is my birthday tribute to my son Bill on the occasion of his 30th birthday.

Bill was a very cute baby. He had the most expressive face.

He laughed a lot and was a very busy little guy. And a little bit of a ham.

He was a sensitive kid who always felt things deeply. I love this picture. It was taken on a day when Angie and Cindy left after having spent a week with us on the Cape. He was so sad they were leaving. I remember when he was 5 we took him to see the movie ET. He was inconsolable afterwards because ET went home.

Bill, Mom and Doug Enjoy a McDonald's Supper. That was a treat back in those days. They thought it was funny that Mom had on a bib, too. See the Spiderman placemats?

With Grampa Petersen and Doug. I'd say Bill was about 2 in this picture and Doug was 3. He and Doug had a great relationship with their grandfather.

Here they are making a fashion statement at church the day they were baptized. Church was really important in Bill's life. Some of his best friends today were friends from Church. Same for Doug.

Here is another fashion statement. Why do mothers take pictures of naked kids? Nothing perverted, they are just cute!

Billy, as he was once called, was an inquisitive thoughtful little kid. Grampy called him Billy lump-lump and he called his grandfather Grampy Bump Bump. Don't really know why. We called him various things like Billby, Bilbo Babbins and Billy-doo-doo. It wasn't for the reason you might think. It was because before he could talk he liked to sing. He would stand up holding on to the side of his crib swaying back and forth and sing doo, doo, doo, doo,doo. He thought he was singing, but he sort of had a monotone. It was funny and maybe you had to be there, but that was his nickname for a while. FRank Sinatra made a hit record with similar lyrics, if I recall. Dooby dooby doo...

Billy was usually a happy kid, but here on the last day of camp when he was about 3 he was upset about something. Bill probably remembers what it was even now. Poor little guy.



He claims I made him a pirate every Halloween. I do have pictures of him in other costumes, but we'll just let him have his little story. Aaaargh.


Bill was so happy when his cousin Angie came along. At last there was somebody littler than he was in the family. He adored her.


She was like their little sister. What a trio.


There were several summers that Cindy and Angie went on vacation with us. We would go out on the beach at night with our 4-wheel drive. The three of them dressed appropriately for what they called "night maneuvers". They had so much fun together, those three.

And now Angie has a new baby named Billy!

Bill had lots of interests as a kid. He loved his bikes.

He liked anything with wheels, actually.

When he was learning to drive he told me he didn't need lessons. He said he already knew how to drive because he mowed the lawn with the lawn tractor. Needless to say, he took driver's ed in spite of his expertise at 5 miles an hour on grass.

He was a Scout for a while. Here is a picture of him with his friends Mike and Ian. They are still all friends today and all turning 30! Wow!

Bill and Ian and another friend, Ben, were in the fife and drum corps for a while. They really were quite good. Bill knew lots of songs and marched to Concord re-enacting the march from Sudbury to the battle of Concord and Lexington in 1776. The rest of the group were adults and these boys kept up with all of them.

Bill's Grampy Hall, (my Dad, also named Bill) used to wrestle with Bill when he was little.

Maybe that's why he was on the High School varsity wrestling team all 4 years.

Bill's look changed a little over the years, but he was always handsome, don't you think?

Sort of a collegiate look in junior high.

A more casual, long-haired look in high school and college.

His brother Doug and he are still close today. That makes me very happy now that I am so far away. It is good to know that they have each other.

And now that he has a very special person in his life, Kim, I know I never have to worry about him. I adore her and am very happy that they found each other. She keeps him in line. He doesn't always read his e-mail and I know if I send her a copy of an e-mail to Bill, she will make him read it. I think she might even tell him to call his mother once in a while. Yes, she is a good influence on him!

As you can tell, I am proud of my Bill. That cute, funny, sensitive, charming little guy is now a cute, funny sensitive charming and wonderful man who brings so much to my life and to so many others. If you know him and have a chance, add a comment to this blog or send him a Happy Birthday e-mail at nailspetersen@hotmail.com (Don't ask me why he has that address.) But if you really want him to read it, better send a copy to Kim, too at teacha05@yahoo.com.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL! I miss you and I wish I could be there to help you celebrate.

I love you lots.

Mom