Happy 18th birthday, Enoch!
Eighteen years ago today, I gave birth to my fourth child, a son. Enoch was our first child to be born here in the state of Washington. His birth was a very long (thirty-plus hour) birth, but in the end, after a slow labor, he was born squalling in the living room of our rented duplex.
Judah and the baby brother he was determined to name Kelsey
We had two boys and two girls. It was kind of perfect. Judah was determined to name his little brother Kelsey (don’t ask me why) and cried and cried when he found out that was not, in fact, the name we had chosen for his little brother.
This is Enoch at 5 days old. As you can see, he was already plotting world dominion…
Enoch woke up the morning after his late-night birth alert and ready to go. I took one look at him and knew he was going to be a handful. Enoch was bright and curious from day one. He was not a kid who wanted to sit around observe. He wanted to do. Everything. And now.
I have written a lot about Enoch. I have used him as an example of how to homeschool non-traditional students. I have written about how proud I was the first time he stepped into a classroom (at age 16) and how stunned I was the time he stuck a dead goldfish in his wallet. Or poured bleach directly on my laundry.
He had a ruptured appendix at age thirteen…and ran a 5K one week later. He never even took a single painkiller (or even Tylenol) after his surgery. But then again this is the kid who took out his own stitches at age ten. He probably would have assisted with the appendectomy if they would have let him.
Today? Enoch is thriving at the community college he attends. He works, plays, and learns there. He is still quirky. But that stubbornness and determination? It’s taking him places. He has already been accepted into Central Washington University (where Judah attended) and been accepted into their honors college.
He’s going places.
And we’re kind of proud of him.
Happy EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY Enoch.
I love you more than coffee beans.
