to my son on his 12th birthday

Geebs, Geebarino, GB, Gatsby (if I call you Gatsby, you assume something’s wrong),

Happy Birthday. You’re twelve.

It’s been a real year, I tell ya.

I simply chose this photo to put here,
for no specific reason.

You had a big summer, with two basketball camps, including your first overnight Nike basketball camp at Gettysburg College (my Alma mater)! You did not enjoy it and do not want to go back this summer.

You tried out for and made the York Academy basketball team this year. We were all so proud of you and you had an entourage every game: Mom, Flippy, Dad, Brandy, Miss Kevan, Mr. Bill, Grandma, Pappy, Chase, Carson. Mr. Mike even came to a game. The team recently ended the season with a 6-4 record and celebrated at Splitshift (formerly Archetype; ask Flippy).

You discovered Dexter via YouTube and chose to be the serial killer for Halloween.

This year every kid, including you, started saying “6-7.”

You spent a lot of time playing a Roblox game online called Steal a Brainrot and it made you crash out quite frequently because you were “scammed” by your friends who “stole” your “brainrots,” which are, like, digital inanimate objects with faces (?).

You and your friends (Rey, Steven, Quentin) would hang out virtually on Tuesday nights to play the game and to scam each other and scream and cry. For some reason, you guys refer to it as Taco Tuesday.

You also got really into another online trend this year: the quarter zip. You got so many quarter zips for Christmas, bruh.

This felt like a year where you started testing the edges of who you are and what’s expected of you… and what you can get away with.

It’s gotten a little messy sometimes and there have been some tough lessons (that may or may not have stuck).

For your birthday, you requested a trip to ikea to pick out a new desk and dresser. On the way home, Flippy talked with you about transitioning your room from kid stuff to more “grown up” stuff and all the literal and metaphorical responsibility that comes with it. We’ll see if it sticks.