The BEST gift ever!

On May 11th, Mother's Day 22 years ago, almost in a hallway, a little boy was born.
He was one of 19 little boys born that day at Kaiser LA; the only Caucasian baby and definitely the only one with very red hair. He was promptly named Mitchell Clark and the adventure began!

Mitch has always been a free spirit. When he was three he started wiping kisses off; he loved to climb almost from the second he could walk and he has had
a life long love affair with tomatoes, cucumbers and pickles. Of all my children he is the most sensitive, but don't tell him that, he thinks he's pretty tough.

I love this boy more than I can express. Although I guess he is a man now, but to me he is still a little boy who loves baseball, video games, tennis, his friends, scouting and being outdoors. Mitch is always up for an adventure, always the first to volunteer when his friends thought of something dumb to do. He could never hide anything, we always found out. He hated that about living in a small town! One time I got a phone call from my across the street neighbor, it seems Mitch was sitting on the roof singing. Good grief. I learned to put the monkey in him to work and he has done my Christmas lights ever since!

Another time I woke out of a dead sleep at 1:30 am and realized I hadn't seen my cat. I went downstairs and opened the front door and when I did, Mitch's friend DO fell at my feet from the roof. I hear the pitter patter of little feet going across the roof. I yelled for Byron to go check on Mitch, he found Mitch in his bed, fully clothed with shoes and a coat, pretending to snore. "W-W-What?" he asked. Seems they were on their way to dry ice bomb at the retirement community's golf course. Did I mention he is creative?

He has a lovely singing voice, a fact we didn't know til he was 16 when he tried out for A Capella choir and made that choir and the higher one, Select Singers. He has an incredible memory, even now he can quote Scripture Mastery scriptures. He hated school, hated going to class, hated doing homework. Mitch still holds a dubious record, we have a teacher who has taught for over 20 years, about 3,000 students. Mitch is the ONLY one she has ever written a behavior referral for. We are so proud.

Mitch was always the smallest one in his group of friends, he was definitely a late bloomer. In high school he discovered that quick, short guys can do well in tennis. He and his doubles partner were ranked #3 in our league. This was quite an accomplishment for him, I loved to watch him play. He also was an awesome 2nd baseman and made the All-Star team a few times. This is Danielle, his Jr. Prom date, she was 3 inches taller than him with her heels on. He was a happy boy though, she was pretty cute!!

Mitch is now in a period of his life where he is trying to find who he is and what he wants for himself. I have cried more tears over him and said more anguished prayers for him than any other in my life. I mourn for all he has lost as he goes through this time. I pray he will find his way back to us and to his Heavenly Father. As tough as this time is, I am thankful for this special son and all the joy he has given us. But when he does figure out what he wants and makes his millions, he is going to be responsible for paying for my hairdresser and hair dye. He gave me 90% of my unwanted gray. I am giving him fair warning.


Happy Birthday Son!!