With love, to my son

I've lost the quote and cannot locate it. But it goes something like this: every parent has the right to believe their children are the world's smartest, most beautiful creations to ever walk this earth.

If not their parents, who else? Other parents should be wrapped in the same beliefs about their children. Childless people cannot relate to why this small being we created is so precious to us. Teachers, child care workers, medical professionals cannot choose between all of their precious charges. Nope, it's up to us as parents. Every child should feel unconditional love, and know that his or her parents madly love everything about him or her.

Today, as my son turns 24, I waited up until midnight to spring a dastardly deed on him -- posting younger pictures of him on Facebook and tagging him, so his friends would see them. I deserved everything he might say. Instead, he was the first person to say it: "I am adorable."

Are you kidding? Of course you're adorable: those blond curls before your first haircut when you were 2? The smile on your face when the lorikeets piled on you at the San Diego Zoo for the nectar you were holding? The same delight when the love of your life snuggled up against your shoulder. The kindness and gentleness, the playfulness and joy piled into that body since your first snuggles and hugs -- you ARE adorable. The best thing your dad and I ever did was decide to have you.

I'm not going into your moments. Everyone has them. As you grow up, they are becoming fewer and fewer, as you choose to put other people and priorities first. You are living on your own, so the moments we intersect are fewer, and mostly pleasant.

So, even if you have no blond curls, and your days of zoo visits have come and gone, you are adorable. Our faces light up every time we see you. The past 24 years have been the best ones of our lives, and we can't wait to watch your future keep unfolding.