May Day

In the military, it signals disaster--either your plane's been hit and you're going down, or some other emergency is fast upon you. In what little remains of the Communist world, it's a chance to strut your stuff, with leaders perched up high, reviewing a parade of military hardware passing by. But in our house, May Day, May 1st, means just one thing: Patrick's birthday.
My son Patrick, that is. It's official: as of today, Julie and I now have not one but two teenagers--13-year-old birthday boy Pattie, as he's known, and his big bro Michael.
So the day, as well as the day's blog entry, is reserved for him.
Patrick's is a 7th grader, a hard-nosed, organized, pay-attention-to-the-rules, get-your-homework-done-first A student. In other words, nothing like his old man, rather more like his mom. On the baseball field, he's a catcher--the unsung, hardworking, involved-in-every- play guy.
But it's on the stage that he really shines. He makes his grand debut--wonderfully and coincidentally timed along with his new status as a teenager--in St. Gregory the Great's rendition of the play Footloose, due for worldwide opening one week from tonight. Tickets? Fuggedaboudit. They're impossible to get--tougher than courtside Lakers finals. The play has been in practice/production since January, and they even had grueling two-a-day practices (just like football two-a-day summer drills in the NFL) during spring break. Patrick has reluctantly shown us a few sample steps in his dance routines, but mostly he's put us off till the big night. The ham in him doesn't want to spoil the surprise.
Granny, Bubba, Aunt Katie, maybe aunti Jo and a gaggle of cousins, possibly some from as far away as ______ (it's a secret) are coming in for the big event.
There's a pleasing sibling symmetry to all of this: big bro had his moment in the sunshine a month or two ago when his Gesu team racked up a CYO city championship. Now, the spotlight shines on Pattie, and Pattie alone.
Happy birthday, my dear, sweet boy. May you grow to be half as smart, cool, confident and loving as you are today as a newly minted teen. And may you follow your dreams as far as they'll take you...