Brandon

My nephew, Brandon, turned 15 yesterday. And it made me sad and happy. I remember when he was born very clearly, I was 17. My brother was 21 and his wife only 19. This baby was one of those oops babies, and thus resulted in a hurried wedding. Despite the circumstances, my family gathered around my brother and his young wife and supported them all the way. We were there at the hospital when he was born and have all been there ever since. All of us helped out in caring for the new baby, because both my brother and his wife had to work. Between my mother, my grandmother and myself,and of course his parents, Brandon was well-cared for. He was the first baby I had ever really spent any time with and led me to believe that babies were easy. He was a sweet, quiet, happy little thing and is still that way to this day. Except he isn't so little anymore. I saw him for Christmas a few days ago and cried. I had not seen him in about a year and he had changed so much. His voice is deep, he is taller than me now and his body has filled out to become a young man's instead of the scraggly boy body he had. We all went out for dinner to celebrate his birthday and after dinner my brother and Brandon's mother gave him the used truck they bought him for his birthday. He was so overwhelmed with emotion he couldn't really say anyhing, but hugged them and cried. Some people were aghast at the notion of a 15 year old getting a truck for his birthday. Some people don't get it. According to my brother, they got this truck because it was a great deal, Brandon fell in love with it when he saw it (before they bought it), and the year he will spend driving it under the direct supervision of a parent will be beneficial to him when he is on his own next year. And the kid deserves it. He is such a great kid, kind, thoughtful, polite, well-behaved, and smart. He is on the honor roll every single term at school and has been since there was an honor roll. He never causes any trouble for his parents, who divorced when he was 5. He is nothing but wonderful. Happy birthday Brandon!

Brandon at 8 weeks and 6 months old

Brandon with baby Hayden, 1995
Brandon, age 5
Brandon on his 15th birthday with is truck