We celebrated my son Owen’s 18th birthday on Sunday. All of us had an emotional day in a happy way, acknowledging that he is now officially an adult and Nadia and I wondering how it went by so fast! Nadia cooked a delicious American brunch of bacon, eggs, pancakes and buttered toast. We all ate in front of the TV because Owen wanted to. We have a family tradition that if it is your birthday, you are the king/queen of the house and can do whatever you want. We bought Owen some new clothes at a Turkish men’s clothing store in the Samarkand Darvoza (Gate) the largest shopping mall in Tashkent. He is modeling one of the shirts Nadia selected for him.
In thinking of 18 years of raising Owen, I reflected back on when it started. I made a gallery of 2002-2003 when Owen was born. Nadia gave birth at the Clinica Foinini in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We were teaching in Venezuela at the time. Nadia felt more comfortable with her family in Santa Cruz. I remember this was the time of political instability in Venezuela and I was lucky that our school closed a week earlier than expected, so I was able to take a longer paternity leave. Some colleagues came to Santa Cruz with me to see Bolivia during the extended Winter Break. I still remember the morning of Owen’s birth. I took my friends to get the Cruceno delicacy, saltenas, and received a call that Nadia was having contractions. We immediately went to the hospital. Later that day, Owen was born around 7:30 PM on December 13, 2002, a day I will never forget!
First Photo in the Delivery Room 
First few days at Clinica Foinini 
Owen had a full head of hair when born 
Sleep-deprived but happy father! 
First Family Photo in Santa Cruz 
Nadia in the early afternoon of December 13, 2002 
Restaurant in PLC, Venezuela 
Mother’s Day Lunch – Chinese Restaurant Anaco 
A satiated Owen in the hammock in Anaco
We all spent Owen’s birthday together and had a lot of laughs. We watched Christopher Nolan’s new movie, Tenet in the evening. On Friday night, Nadia and I went shopping for Christmas presents and getting a shelf and desk for Ocean’s room. She was complaining her room was empty and so we made it nice and cozy for her. The hope is she does more school work. Below you can see the result of Nadia’s design touches.
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