I had a little bit of sentimental babble planned today.  How Christian had a dream to be a Marine from the time he was small, I even had a photo of him at five, and him now in his Marine uniform.  I also planned to spin it a little woe-is-me.  He graduated from bootcamp yesterday, Pearl Harbor day, in San Diego.  The full pomp & circumstance, the big ceremony, in the beautiful warm sun on the Marine parade grounds.  And I was here alone in a big ol’ snowstorm.  Poor me.

But as I went out to shovel my portion of the sidewalk (in Germany this is required by law, in my town it must be kept clear between 8 & 8 even during snowfall), my mood cleared a little.  Not so much because I love shoveling snow, in fact definitely not that, but because Dane came bounding out the front door, grabbed a snow shovel, and cheerfully yodeled:

“Now that Soren & Christian are all growed up, I have to be the man & help!” And away he shoveled, never tiring, helping with the steps, sidewalk, driveway & even our communal walking path.  How can that not bring smile to anyone’s face?

My smile did falter, as the time for the actual graduation ceremony drew near.  And then I got a phone call from Soren.  Quick!  Turn on the Skype!  He had technology!  He tried his darndest to live-stream Christians entire graduation with his fantabulous 4G phone.  It was almost impossible to see, I had no idea there were so many young boys (and maybe girls, I really couldn’t see) becoming Marines yesterday.  The quality wasn’t great, though the Marine Corps band came through beautifully and Tess & Dane were soon marching along with great glee.  Christian was impossible to pick out, but I felt, just a little bit, part of his big day.

I went to sleep much happier, and then this morning, with my first cup of coffee, I went through the bajillion emails Soren sent through the afternoon & evening yesterday.  Until I came to this photo & literally snorted coffee out my nose & laughed out loud.  My boys (Soren as Batman, Christian as Cap) may be full grown men, with real jobs, real responsibilities and real lives but they are my Superhero’s.