From Aunt Susan:

Dear Aaron,

Happy birthday to you! Wow, hard to believe you are 30, but that just means your Mom, Dad, and Aunts and Uncles are really old!! I hope your sojourn up at the cabin is all that you would hope it would be.

So...favorite memories and advice.....

For me, who came on to the scene after you were born, my memories of you are in my head as pictures. I remember the long drive with your Uncle Darrell on the weekend we first met (in Denver, btw) to Breckenridge and him talking on and on about his nephew, he was quite "wowed" by you! That would have been in November of 1979, so you were not quite a year. In my head I have the famous picture of you coming out of the football toy box (is that right?)--it must have been your first Christmas. Another favorite picture in my head was taken "at the cabin" in the fall. I was actually in Australia at the time working, but Darrell had taken Allie up to the cabin to visit you guys. There is a picture of you, Allie and Meg, rolling in the leaves on a sunny fall day---I think that was 1985. To me, that picture is just all there is to say about kids and how great it is to have them in your life--the sheer joy of rolling in leaves and laughing, laughing, laughing. The next picture I have was one that I had never seen until recently when we were at Theresa's and they were showing a home movie. You were ricing potatoes and Grandma Honey talking and you were making faces at the camera. It was so funny!! I still laugh when i think of that movie!! And of course, the more recent photos of you singing with Bettina, always very unique and very Aaron.

Oooo, now on to the advice. Well, turning 30...I am sure that seems very "old" to you, but of course to me, who is way beyond that, it does not seem old at all. Milestones are great to reflect and look back at what has been and forward to what will be, but actually they are a time to "reset your standards" ---30 seemed old when you were 20, now "reset" and look forward....30 is young compared to your parents!

The other thing I have learned is to savor the present, it is all we really have....I look back on the past with melancholy sometimes, but I try to look at today and say, I like my life at this point. I remember when the kids were growing up. As newborns, I thought, this is the best, the best age, then as little people starting to recognize their mom, I thought, no, this is a much better age than newborn! And so it went, with each change and each stage of their life I thought, "this is the best!" Now that they are adults, I think, this is good, this is the best. The trick of life is to not regret, but move on and make the "now" the best time ever.

And finally, faith. Last but least. I know this is an area, that you probably have different views than me, but what I have tried to tell Josh and Allie, is that, God is real. I know this. His power is great. I know this. There is a heaven. I know this. He does care about all of us. I know this. He cares about you. I know this.

Smile on your birthday and laugh a bit. Think of the past, ponder the future, but live in the present.

love you, Aunt Susan