his golden birthday: happy 26th, Dan!

Among the countless things my kids have taught me is the golden birthday: when your age coincides with your birthdate. Today, the 26th, my son Dan turns 26! His daughter Ari, born 1/1/10, just celebrated hers. Mine was 53 years ago: gone forever.

I'm not sure what else the golden birthday means, but I do have many memories of my birthday boy. He loved toilets when he was little. If left alone with a toilet, Dan made some trouble. But darn it, he was just so cute.

Since Dan and his big brother David were our only kids

for three years, lots of sweet memories come to mind.

They were terrific playmates.

Dan earned the reputation in our family for usually running late, misplacing things, and pushing deadlines to the limit. He's gonna hate me for this photo ...

but for his brother's Eagle ceremony,

Dan had to borrow some scout shorts

at the last minute - shorts which were a tad, um, short.

Dan went off to college and soon a cute coed named Jenny stole his heart.

We all know the rest of the story.

Dan and Jenny married right after college.

A baby girl (also stole Dan's heart) came along and, in a few months,

another little one is due. My son jumped into adulthood pretty darn fast.

I burst with pride at his diligence, compassion and steadfast love for his family and those who cross his path.

Happy golden birthday, Dan!