Misty-watered colored memories

My oldest son turns 21 on Tuesday. I'll be taking part in a tour of North Dakota Coal Country with a bus full of state legislators on the 18th, so we are going to Minot tomorrow (August 16th) to celebrate Derek's birthday.

We've always tried to make birthdays special, and we hope our visit with Derek will be memorable as well. Besides his parents and his brother, he will be joined by his Grandpa Van Dyke, and two of his older cousins and their families from Plentywood. His oldest cousin Dave will bring his wife Cathy and two sons Blake and Craig. His next oldest cousin is Karen and she will bring along her son Cameron. We're meeting them at the zoo...and Minot's zoo is nothing to sneeze at.

Derek won't be able to join us until 5 p.m. because he is involved with some training at the college. He's the head resident at the freshmen boy's dormitory this year so has quite a bit of responsibility along with finishing up his classes so he can graduate in the spring.

To say I'm proud of Derek would be an understatement. But I've always been proud of him -- when he got his first tooth, took his first step and got his first haircut are all unforgettable moments for me.

I thought you might enjoy some memories from his birthdays...including his original birth day back in 1988. He was born at 10:36 p.m. and had plenty of dark brown hair. I took one look at him and thought that I needed to buy a little brush to keep his hair combed. Even today, he has a beautiful head of hair...only it's a lighter brown now.

On his first birthday in 1989, he was very excited to open his many gifts, which included a red and yellow toy lawn mower that he pushed everywhere. His birthday party was attended by his great grandmother Rose Frohlich, her son Uncle Phillip, along with Derek's godfather Uncle Miles and his wife Bernie. Derek got to make a mess out of a little birthday cake and Uncle Miles tried to get Derek to put his sticky hands in his hair.

On Derek's second birthday, he had all kinds of visitors because not only was it his birthday, it was the day his brother Scott was baptized. However, we started a tradition in 1990 that carried through for many of Derek's birthdays -- he ate at Red Lobster!

The toys on his third birthday included a toy gun, a truck and a magna doodle. Uncle Miles and Bernie were over for cake and ice cream. Uncle Philip was in the hospital with the stomach flu.

On his fourth birthday, Derek got a quilt from his Aunt Janet in Rapid City and a tricycle from his mom and dad. He also got a lot of money that he spent on games at the Ben Franklin store in Mandan.

On his fifth birthday he ate at Red Lobster and the servers came over and sang "happy birthday" to him. His Grandma and Grandpa Van Dyke were visiting from Roundup and they bought him a pair of walkie-talkies. He also got a bicycle from his parents...with training wheels.

His parents were in Louisville, Kentucky, on Derek's sixth birthday so it was up to Grandma and Grandpa Doll along with Aunt Amy to spoil him on his birthday. He and brother and cousins dined on a "Pink Panther" cake that Amy made for him. A lot of his presents this year had something to do with Power Rangers.

On his seventh birthday he got rollerblades and his best friends from Custer school -- Brad Lee and Nick -- were among the invited to help him celebrate.

His ninth birthday was spent in Baker, Montana, with me. We went to drilling rigs and compressor plants and shared a huge steak at the Green Dragon when the work was done. I remember sharing a bed with Derek that night only to find out that Derek slept diagonally and nearly kicked me out of bed.

On his 11th birthday, it was fun at Snoopers during the afternoon and then dinner at Red Lobster. Derek spent some of his birthday money on a Cubs jersey. I wonder if it was the one he wore for all of his high school pictures?

When he turned 12, it was lunch at Red Lobster and the afternoon at the Amusement Park in Sertoma Park. The boys played mini-golf and enjoyed the rides.

In 2001, he officially became a teenager and spent his birthday on a youth retreat at Rick and Margie Nelson's cabin beside a lake in Minnesota. We celebrated his birthday on August 16 and ate at Space Aliens. Derek bought a golf club and a model car with his birthday money.

His 14th birthday was a somber affair as we were in Glendive for his Aunt Cheryl's funeral. She died of cancer and left behind a husband and a fourteen-year-old daughter.

On his 15th birthday, it was back to Red Lobster and all the crab Derek could eat. He got a subscription to the Cubs magazine from his parents along with a Cubs glass from Aunt Janet. He used some of his birthday money to buy a ticket a Jeff Foxworthy concert.

His 16th birthday was spent with the Phillips family in Milbank as we were all heading to the Twin Cities for baseball games.

On his 17th birthday, Derek was eating at Paradiso with a bunch of his friends from high school.

As he was getting ready to head for college on his 18th birthday, he was greeted by a group of well wishers from church including Lisa, Jaymi, Kevin, Randy and Randy's mom Mary. They took him to Hardees for breakfast. We went to Minot State University with Derek for freshmen orientation. When we got home, Derek left us and went to Paradiso with another group of friends.

On his 19th birthday, we went to breakfast with the uncles and then Uncle Rich and I helped Derek move into his dorm at college. This one is nicer than last years and has air conditioning. For his birthday, Derek got Cubs and Bear shirts. Go Chicago!

Last year on his birthday, he was moving to Minot again and Uncle Rich was again in tow helping make the transition from summer intern to college student go smoothly. We ate lunch at Red Lobster before heading to Minot.

So there's 20 years of Derek's birthdays....here's to number 21.

Your loving Dad!