My first-born turns seventeen

 

His friends call him Reg. 

His dad calls him Gie’. 

His middle brother nicknames him The Jazzman. 

His youngest brother teases him Kuya Wedgie. 

He’s just plain sweet ol’ Reggie to me.

He’s usually quiet and has this reserved disposition but once in a while he will surprise us with his goofiness.  He’s a responsible young man and I can rely on him to look after his brothers.  Although sometimes he also gets ticked off when they tease him a lot.

He turns 17 tomorrow.  How time flies. It seems not too long ago when I heard his first cry and was helpless as I held him in my arms.  He now towers above me and has a mind of his own.  He’s going to university next Fall and he wants to be a jazz flutist.  I support his dreams although I had negative feelings about it at first.  I was worried about the instability of a music career and the rejection that he might experience.  But I realized that rejection is a part of life and that’s how we learn, from our failures.  And who am I to hinder his dreams?  As a parent, I am here to encourage him to pursue his dreams. 

You can read more about Reggie’s dream in He is an explorer of music and …  

And also the story of his birth in “A Special Surprise” – A Labour of Love. 

 

And speaking of labour – I slaved away in the kitchen last night and this morning trying to prepare a feast for 15 people for his birthday celebration.  And that was only my family and my sister’s family and my mother.  It’s not that much food but it has been a lot of work.  I usually order food for birthday celebrations but money’s kind of tight right now and I decided to prepare everything myself.  I have not been confident enough before to serve my dishes to other people.  As I have mentioned several times before, my husband is a better cook than I am.  But he wouldn’t cook on occasions like this and I guess, I am not that bad after all.  I cooked the pancit (fried noodles), lemon chicken and lumpia (egg rolls).  I bought the ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.