Whitey Tighties Go to Sweden

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It was my intention this year to run a special birthday post for each of my children on their special day. Three of them have their special day within two weeks of each other in November and December. I ran their posts on those days. You can see them here: Keri, Kelly, and Korie.

However, our youngest broke out of the mold, well, he broke out of a lot of molds - - - and was born on July 16th.

On July 16th, I was midst our Wisconsin vacation, and though I mailed him a birthday card with birthday cash - - - I FORGOT about his blog post.

I must confess to you that my children do NOT hang on every word of every post on my blog, so Kyle was probably unaware of this motherly faux pas.

I, however, am VERY aware of it. So I am doing the next best thing - - - I'm posting his birth "announcement" on his day, the 16th, but on the wrong month.

Bear with me - - - you already know who you're dealing with here!


This is Kyle, our youngest son, computer whiz, telecommunications student at Ball State, world traveler, and until now birthday postless child.


When my kids were much younger, I made a photo mosaic of each of them. This is Kyle's. I'd like to pull out a few of these pictures and tell a bit of his tale.


Being the last of the Broyles Babies, and 11 years behind his oldest sister Keri, Kyle never lacked for attention. He didn't TALK until he was well past two because prior to that time all he had to do was make "uh uh uh" sounds around the thumb that was perpetually in his mouth and Keri knew exactly what he wanted and got it for him. (And they try to tell me I spoiled him!!!) When he finally DID talk, it was in complete sentences.

One day, shortly after he began talking, he was trying to get his dad's attention. Fisherhubby was playing possum in the bed and didn't want to be disturbed, so he ignored Kyle. In exasperation Kyle queried: "What's'a mattuh, ooooo got ear wax buiwd-up or sumpin???"

He'd heard that STRAIGHT off of "Saved By The Bell," his siblings favorite TV show.

The AMAZING thing was, he knew EXACTLY how to use it!!!


His love of gadgets and technology started very early. Too bad I wasn't able to KEEP him interested in emptying the dishwasher!

One July we took the kids on vacation to Gull Lake in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. We no sooner got there than the temperature took a nose-dive, it rained without ceasing, and we were all trapped together in the cabin with nothing but movies to entertain us. Well, movies, the antics of our own kids, AND the antics of fisherhubby who by Thursday was ready to chop down a pine tree and celebrate Christmas since the weather was fit for it.

The Gulf War was going on at the time and Kyle had a pair of the ever-popular camo PJ's. He LIVED in those PJs all week. He kept going into the bathroom and coming out with the very lovely knit extra TP roll cover on his head like a hat. There was a big yellow flower adorning the top and, as you can see below, long green leaves trailing down the sides. Once he had this securely positioned on his head, he would come out and sit in a big yellow metal lawn chair to watch movies with the rest of us.


I took this silly thing away from him a hundred times in fear that he would stretch it all out of shape. But then, in desperation, I GAVE UP and just let him wear it. I mean - - - it was truly a "lovely thing" (by that I mean HIDEOUS) and I couldn't see that he could make it any worse even if he DID stretch it out. Also, since the owner of the cabin was Aunt Lois, who never threw a thing away in her life, I knew she'd keep it no matter WHAT shape it was in.

So, pretty much all week he sat in that yellow chair and wore that flower on the top of his head. We all giggled about it - - - but that deterred him not at all. None of us could understand why he did it and just chalked it up to his own little individual sense of humor.

Years later when the kids were all grown up, at some family gathering or other, we were reminiscing about that vacation and laughing over the various happenings. Someone brought up Kyle and the TP cover hat. "I thought it was an Army helmet," says he. Oh that DID make us laugh - - - so obvious now that we know, an army helmet to go with his camos, yet NOT ONE OF US "got" it at the time. And why did he wait so long to tell us???? Funny little tyke.

Kyle with his next older sister, Korie, about the same time period as the helmet head.

Kyle loved to wear boots, anybody's boots (these were his older brother's) and a hat.

One snowy winter day when Kyle was about three, I glanced out the dining room window just in time to see him "sprint" by in nothing but boots and his whitie tighties, only they were cartoon character tighties and not white at all.

I opened the patio door and hustled him inside demanding, "What ARE you doing?"

"Kelly made me do it!!" was his only reply. Oh that ornery older brother, Kelly! I'm SURE he bribed Kyle with some false promise or other. Maybe one or the other or both of them remember what the bribe was, but I certainly do not.

That was not to be his only experience of "running around" alone.

Last summer, as a kind of self-imposed "right of passage" into manhood, our little underling took himself to Sweden on a trip of his own planning and execution.

Alone.

Across the ocean and everything.

His mother, that would be me, was very nervous and worried for his safety.

But go he would, and did. It was the experience of a lifetime for him.


We waited patiently at the airport on the day of his return, leaning forward to catch the first glimpse of him as he rounded the bend. And there he came - - - our little world traveler home safe and sound and all in one piece.


He greeted us with hugs all around, and then we took a good look at him:


Seems we sent him away a typical American College Boy and he returned a Swedish World Traveler.

Time passes - - - these "babies" of ours grow - - - and one day, we wake to find they have found their own path. Babies no more.

And with a little bit of luck, a lot of love, and much prayer, they grow into


Young adults bound together not only by blood, sweat, and chromosomes but also by memories shared.

These are our "babies" thus grown.

Our two sons: Kyle, the Sweden Adventurer in yellow and Kelly, not as innocent as he looks, in white.


Our two daughters: Pretty Mama Keri in black and white, and Rockin' Korie in pink.

May the memories continue.

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