Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Happy Birthday Praveen!


I'm happy and proud to call Praveen my son-in-law. By traveling to (and around) India with him and Ruth, I got to know him so much better than I could have any other way... It takes time to get to know people and our time with Praveen has been limited to his short occasional visits to Fulton. BUT we made up for all that on the trip. I feel now like I've known him for years. He's a really FUNNY guy. I never knew that before. I always knew he was smart and good looking....(and had good taste in potential brides) but never that he had such a great sense of humor.

Another thing that I learned about Praveen is that he's thoughtful, considerate, caring, and conscious of the needs of others. Throughout the trip I watched him making sure that everyone's needs were being met...and not just needs, but desires too. With so many friends and family there, it was quite the juggling act, and he never once dropped the ball. (If he did, I didn't see it.)

I watched him be the diplomat. Balancing the needs and desires of those closest to him: his parents, his new bride, and tradition. And...he pulled it all off with grace.
Praveen knows how to have fun. . . . . . . . .

Not only do I like & love Praveen, I respect him. He's a great guy who I look forward to growning closer and closer to in the many years ahead.

Today is Praveen's Birthday. I have added him to my rather long mental list of (immediate) family birthdays, and unlike my other two son-in-laws', his will be easy to remember. It's the day after Esther's birthday. That makes FIVE in January. (Nathan, Esther, Praveen, Nathan, Seth, and Jay)

January only rivals September in the number of birthdays in our immediate family. In September we have six: (Rachel, Naomi, Amon, Rebekah, Kyle, and Ruth)

He knows how to fly a plane too!

We used to have a "September Birthdays Party" and sometimes, weather permitting, a "January Birthdays Party", but times are changing and the family is getting more spread out and harder to get together too often. Lately, with the factors of distance, jobs, and school, Thanksgiving is the main time that EVERYONE makes it to town at the same time. Now we have to factor in the two boys who are in the military and it even becomes harder to get everyone together.

So, the new plan starting this year is to have a mid-year "family reunion". This was Ruth's idea, and a good one. In June we'll all (try to) be here for Ruth and Praveen's Fulton reception on the 10th and then we'll spend the following weekend at a campground where we'll just relax, party, and float on the river. Mind you, this campground is not only tent camping, they have cabins too.... a pre-requisite for me in choosing a site. (I did the tenting thing when I was a kid and had enough of it. Now I insist on a "real bed" with four walls around it.) Hopefully this will become an annual event that everyone (including the boys) will plan ahead for.

I hope the rest of my family can catch up with me on "knowing Praveen". The June camping trip-family reunion will be a good time to get a start on it.

My three son-in-laws with Jay ... It seems that none of them are looking at the camera.

Thanksgiving 2004

Part of the family including Amon's girlfriend, Megan, Rachel's husband, Dan, Naomi's boyfriend, Dane....and of course, Praveen!

2 comments:

Ruth said...

how cute!!! He is amazing hu? But now he is so old!!! 30! how will he keep up with a young babe like me?

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday Praveen! You've sure had a big month!

~Naomi