I’ll Love You Forever, I’ll Like You For Always, As Long as I’m Living, My Baby You’ll Be-A Birthday Wish To My Son

A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang:

I’ll love you forever,
I’ll like you for always,
As long as I’m living
my baby you’ll be.

The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother’s watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, “this kid is driving me CRAZY!”

But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I’ll love you forever,
I’ll like you for always,
As long as I’m living
my baby you’ll be.

The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was nine years old. And he never wanted to come in for dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and when grandma visited he always said bad words. Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo!

But at night time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep, she picked up that nine-year-old boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I’ll love you forever,
I’ll like you for always,
As long as I’m living
my baby you’ll be.

…That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across town. But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town.  If all the lights in her son’s house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I’ll love you forever,
I’ll like you for always,
As long as I’m living
my baby you’ll be.

20 years ago today, on September 22, at 5:23 pm Zachary Alexander “Fred Astaire” Turner danced his way into this world-although a little bit early at 28 weeks. Fred, you were the miracle, the one that “could never be” but yet there you were, proof that dreams can come true when you have the power to believe in them.

The time has flown by.  We all knew from the beginning that you were brought into our lives for a reason and every second that goes by, you are living proof of just that. From the little boy that could act out the entire “Fantasmic” show on top of the coffee table in full Mickey garb to the amazing young man you are today, dancing your way through life, you touch the lives of every person you come into contact with your gentle soul and have changed us all in so many ways.

 It seems so cliché’ to say time passes in a blink of an eye-I blinked once and we were celebrating your first birthday.  I blinked again, and you were off to school. And as days turned to months and months turned to years, you grew and transformed before our eyes, growing into the young man you’ve become today- a person who leaves me in awe with your compassion, your ability to love and the ability to give of yourself so unconditionally. While each of life’s milestones brought something new and exciting along the way.

The Newest “Cast of Characters” of Walt Disney World

It’s hard for me to come to terms with the fact that this birthday means that last of my babies are no longer teenagers and yes we all made it through “those” years and lived to tell the tale-and what stories you all have to tell. The little boy that appeared on the coffee table reenacting every move of Fatasmic grew up to live out his dreams as an entertainer with the Disney College Program passing on the joy and the magic that has come to mean so much to him to others each and every day. Turning 20 is like turning 19. You don’t get any new privileges out of it like you would with ages 18 or 21, but the day is what you make of it.The one certainty is that whatever direction life takes you, the world will be a better place because of you.

Like your sister and brothers, you are not just an amazing son, but also an incredible human being. You bear the strength of conviction, honesty, and most of all, an inner self-confidence and someone I always have and always will truly admire you.

Your talents never cease to astonish me-your eyes see beauty where sometimes mine see nothing. You see the good in everyone and every situation.  Your mind has the gift to create, and your body moves to the music like no one is watching. When you smile the world lights up around you.  You are, in a word, magical.

Fred, you are the miracle, the proof that dreams and wishes can and do come true, and today, on this, your 20 th birthday, I wish for you the sun, the moon, the stars, the Vorlon galaxy-and a little bit more. I wish for you the life you were born and meant to live. I wish for you all of the beauty of the world and the strength to see you through-no matter what life has in store for you.  Always believe in the possibilities, live your dreams! Reach for the stars-they are out there waiting just for you! No matter where life takes you, always know that first, foremost and always, I will always be your mommy.

It seems like only a moment ago that I held you for the very first time As I gazed down on you, I wished the world for you and throughout the years, you, Heather, Kevin, Jason and Thumper have made all of my dreams some true. Now I wish for you the same-dare to dream, live your life and don’t merely exist in it and Believe….and miracles will happen.

Happy Twentieth Birthday, Fred. With more love than you can ever imagine – All my love-and a little bit more-Mommy

A great life would naturally bring more meaning, purpose,love, laughter, wonder and adventure to our days.And, at the end of your journey you would look back on a life of significance rather than regret— knowing in your heart that you left the world a better place than you found it! Knowing that you made a difference in the lives of others and you got something wonderful out of it and gave something wonderful back!  A great life, of course is not something we experience, it’s something we create!   The world awaits you-make it magical!