Sam's Day

Ok, I have a confession to make. Sam, Sarah, and AJ are not really my children's names. I'm sure that shocks you all. I actually have two blogs and they are incognito on both. I'd share the other blog with you all, but it's far more serious than this crowd is used to!

The reason I do anonymous for my kids is their privacy. They each have pretty uncommon names. Sam is the only one in his school with his name that we know of. There just might be one more. I've met a few others, but they're not in his school. Sarah is also one of a kind since I actually made up her real name. And AJ used to be unique. But a few months after he was born and named his unique name, everyone started naming their boys his name. Not because it's his name, of course, but because it's a cool name. Maybe it is because it's his name ... he's cool enough.

But I digress.

Today is Sam's 16th birthday. Even if his name isn't really Sam. I thought about posting his picture here anyway, just so you could all see how terribly handsome and wonderful he is. Then I remembered something that happened last year.

Sam has had an uncanny resemblance to Harry Potter for many years. This last year has been a transition away from that, with Sam's long, curly hair and cute little mustache. But before this year, he was often approached by children a stranger to him, saying, "Do you know who you look like?" And he endured many a stare when we were out in public.

Last year I worked at a mental health facility for teens who were having severe emotional/social issues. They were talking about Harry Potter and I said my son looked like him. They didn't believe me, so off I went for a picture. This is always a risk when you have kids of your own and work in such an environment, due to confidentiality issues. But I did a quick inventory of the kids on the unit and figured none of them were in the same school as my son. So I passed the picture around.

One girl piped up after seeing the picture, "That looks just like a kid I know named [insert unique name my son happens to have, including last name]!"

I said, "Oh really. That's really weird to have two kids who look like Harry Potter and they both look so much alike."

She didn't buy it.

So I figured the chances that I put his picture on here and someone figure it out are pretty good, given my record for "small-worldliness". Of course, even then it wouldn't be the end of the world. But I promised them I'd keep them private ....

It'd be nice, though, for you all to see how grand my kids are. Today, just picture Sam on his birthday, a 6 foot tall Harry Potter with a tiny mustache, and long, curly hair. Then imagine him 10 times more handsome. ;)

Chelle