My youngest son Jacob turned 21 last week. To mark this momentous occasion, my husband John and my other son, Jonathon, went up to Ball State last Friday to join Jacob in visiting some fine Muncie establishments (a.k.a. bars). I stayed home to deal with bad side effects from my first shingles vaccine … which is a whole other column.
They went to famous (infamous?) places like The Chug and Brothers. They also visited Yats, Jacob’s now former place of employment.
According to John, at one point in the evening, Jonathon turned to his brother and said, “You know what I like about you, Jacob? You’re the only one I can be real with.” When John told me that, I was amazed and overjoyed.
My mind flashed back to the summer of 2001 when John and I were pushing baby Jonathon in his stroller. We were discussing when to try again for another child since it took me so long to get pregnant the first time. I wanted to try ASAP, thinking it would be another year or more. John replied, “I think you’re Fertile Myrtle now and it’ll happen sooner than you think.”
I wasn’t so certain.
“You know, if we do have kids who are close in age, they can be best friends like my brother and me,” John said. John and his brother Ron are quite close. There’s always laughter whenever they are together.
We thought that sounded great, but of course we knew there weren’t any guarantees.
Sure enough … a few weeks later … I was staring at a positive pregnancy test. This explains why Jacob and Jonathon are only 16 months apart in age.
Initially they certainly were best friends. In fact, we have videos of baby Jacob imitating everything his older brother did with pure delight. Of course, as they grew older, their relationship wasn’t all hearts and flowers. They had moments as pre-teens and teens that included eye-rolling and plenty of frustration. In fact, one time John told them years ago to never say they hated one another.
But now when they get together, the conversation flows non-stop. They visit each other often. All John and I can do is look at them in wonder, especially since they are such different people. Jacob is outgoing, constantly goofy, and an extrovert. Jonathon is mostly quiet, likes to throw funny “zingers” out of nowhere when you least expect it, and jokingly calls himself a misanthrope – a person who dislikes humankind.
This phenomenon doesn’t always happen between siblings, so I’m constantly grateful. I love watching the two of them interact but would never tell them that my heart swells with joy at how they get along now. That would produce some of the aforementioned eye rolls.
I know that Jacob will look back on his 21st birthday celebration as a night of fun with his brother and dad. I’ll remember it as the occasion where I thanked God once again for His gift of my two sons.