Another Anniversary

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about our youngest getting married three years ago. Well, today is the anniversary of our next to youngest. He and his pretty wife are celebrating six years (which has sped by so quickly).

I note that he celebrated this beautiful, sunny day today by coaching his baseball team to two wins. His bride and his two little boys sat dutifully on the bleachers, cheering. Well, that’s not exactly true—the three-year-old doesn’t sit very long, and the four-month-old slept awhile.

Little boy number one is so much a carbon copy of his daddy. He is intense, opinionated, quite handsome, and is flirting with vocal abuse and vocal nodules, the very picture of his daddy. When his daddy was in 1st grade (when reading homework is done EVERY NIGHT), his voice was so hoarse that it was painful to listen to.

Eventually, we took our young son to a specialist and were told that “yes, he was damaging his vocal chords, but that changing one’s voice is neither an easy nor desirable task.” We learned that a person’s (and a kid’s) voice is an extension of their personality and “who they are.” Changing our son’s voice would be a formidable undertaking.

Unfortunately (or not), our son wasn’t in a school that offered speech therapy until junior high, and that is when he began working with a speech pathologist, much older than primary grades. By then, he could think somewhat rationally and understand what was happening. He was being trained to keep his voice under control; and, if need be, well, I don’t exactly remember what he was to practice (he could tell you).

Also fortunately (or not), he had to have his tonsils and adenoids surgically removed. They were quite large, and the surgery was extensive. He could not speak at all (at least so he thought) for a couple of weeks or so. (He could ring an annoying little bell when he needed something and needed something often). However, that total rest of his vocal chords along with his new vocal training alleviated much of the problem.

Today, he is still intense, opinionated, handsome, and a coach (you can imagine how quiet that is); but for the most part, he uses what he learned and seldom experiences hoarseness.

Six years ago this evening, he married a pretty, blond, athletic teacher/coach who had a different personality from her new husband. They have successfully coached volleyball and basketball together, and the two make a terrific team—she is calm, encouraging, and teaches fundamentals while he provides the intense motivation to succeed. It’s kinda’ a “good cop/bad cop” approach. You can guess which is which.

Their wedding that evening was beautiful with a large wedding party attending them. The girls wore periwinkle dresses and the guys, dark tuxes. The bride’s two sisters were her matron- and maid-of-honor and the groom’s younger brother was best man and vocalist. His two sisters also sang and read in the service; and, as part of the official toast at the reception, the bride and groom were welcomed into the other’s family. That has been played out in the years since, and the two families have almost become one.

So, what about our grandson’s voice? He’s hoarse fairly frequently, and we equally frequently seek to encourage him to use his “inside voice.” He, too, is facing tonsil surgery (I hope they don’t give him a little bell to ring). Even more, I hope that when he grow up, he finds a wonderful life mate like his daddy.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Redmans