Before...and after

19 years ago today I watched my son, Sterling, get yanked out of his mother's womb via Caesarean section and I haven't been the same since. The picture above was taken a few minutes later, after he had a hot shower and got into some warm clothes. As you can see, he adapted to life on the outside very quickly and immediately took a liking to the TV remote. He's been pushing my buttons ever since.

(You can also see our coyote dog, Jill, keeping watch from the outside, and the hole that she chewed in the screen to make travel easier for her. )

Here Sterling is rolling around on the couch while I go out to get some diapers and formula. I always kept the fake ghost head from my first movie in the room with him so he wouldn't feel lonely when I went out on errands.

It must have been tough having me for a dad, but he stuck around - mainly for the grub. With a lot of food and water he turned into THIS a mere 18 years later:

That's him dressed for the prom a little less than a year ago. Looks a bit surly, doesn't he? The handcuffs he's wearing behind his back will do that to a young man. His girlfriend's father insisted - and I agreed it was for the best.

A few months later I introduced him to Adrienne Barbeau at a book signing and he managed to slip out of the cuffs long enough for this to happen:

So I guess life hasn't been ALL bad for the boy. (I sure wish I could have put my arms around Adrienne when I was 18!)

But today he turns 19. So Happy Birthday, buddy! Just two more years until the big blow-out in Vegas!

(It's David Pecchia's birthday today as well, but he's still hiding out in Detroit, so he can't come to the party. Happy Birthday to you too, Dave. Clear!)