Happy Birthday, Tim!

The other day I posted about our Airplane Day, the day in 1989 when our family of three became a family of four. 

On August 9, 1982, Dave and and I became parents for the first time.  That was when our lives really changed.  We weren’t sure about the whole parenting thing, but after a long and hard labor in the delivery room, we both instantly fell in love with our new baby, Timothy David.   

Tim, age 4

 

He taught us how to be parents. He gave us the confidence (year-by-year) to homeschool him.  He was a bright, inquisitive toddler and a full-of-life preschooler.  When my friends asked, “How are you going to teach him to read at home?”, I replied, “He already knows how to read.  He taught himself at age 4.”  Yes, we surrounded him with books and other learning materials, but those were just fuel for his energy.  

Tim was game to try most things and I enrolled him in lots of supplemental classes throughout the years.  Art, nature, sports, martial arts, academics—we sampled them all.  But around the time he turned six, we went to a symphony concert that offered a “petting zoo” of musical instruments.  Tim tried the violin and seemed interested in it.  I looked for group lessons, but the teacher we talked to convinced us to give private lessons a try.

Tim, age 10

At Tim’s first violin recital that Christmas, he played “Jingle Bells”.  Were we ever proud of him.  Unlike some of the other beginning students, he could play in tune!  His first violin teacher, Penni Buff, soon had him playing in a quartet and then in a youth orchestra.

We moved from Riverside, CA, to Camas, WA, when Tim was 10.  We quickly found him a new violin teacher and had him audition for the Metropolitan Youth Symphony in Portland.  Even though he was still homeschooled, he also got involved in a quartet and school-based orchestra in Vancouver.  His main interest was music (and computers!) but he also enrolled in martial-arts.

Washington state has, as many states do, a program where high-school students can attend community college and can use the credits for both high school and college.  Tim enrolled in “Running Start” when he was 15.  I was happy to turn over my homeschooling teacher duties to the community college staff, especially when he took a lot of math and science classes!

Tim, age 17

After completing his A.A. degree, Tim transferred to Washington State University and got a bachelor’s degree in computer science at the tender age of 19.  A few years after that, he earned a master’s degree in Business Administration from Concordia University.

Tim’s first paid position was as a computer lab assistant when he attended the community college.  Since then he has continued to work in the computer field.  Each job has led him on to another, more advanced position in computers and technology. 

While working in the IT Department at Concordia, Tim met his future wife, Kiersten.  They were married in 2004.  We were happy to add a daughter-in-law, Kiersten, to our small family of four!  Tim and Kiersten found each other at a young age, but their maturity far exceeded their young ages! 

The newlyweds!

Happy 28th Birthday, Tim!