Happy Birthday Sam, Samuel, Marcos, Mark, Marcus or whatever you want to be called today

 My dear many-named son,

This year in addition to exploring your identity with frequent name changes, you have tried on all kinds of personas.  The bad boy, the fashionista, the athlete, the social butterfly.  You are well liked  and good at making social things happen.  You've really struggled with grades as you have spent most of your energy figuring out your social identity.  Lately you have been keen to keep your closet neat and orderly.  I love going in to see all your clothes carefully organized and cared for.  You still love sports and spend lots of time watching and analyzing basketball and football.  You are also most aware of athlete uniforms and carefully critique styles and colors as much as you analyze stats.  You are adept at getting a rise out of your Dad by negatively and subtley insulting his beloved BYU cougars, but that's on him for taking the bait.  I love how much you share with me.  Sometimes I'm not as good of a listener because your chatter seems not to have an ending or a point, but our cartime conversations are one of my greatest treasures.  

This year to celebrate you walked to Lin's for a box of your favorite donuts, brought them back and celebrated with the Hainsworths.  You were pretty happy with your shoes and Gonzaga jersey, despite the lack of surprise since you picked them out.  Your LED lit room and Stance sock addiction are part of your trademarks as well.  

I appreciate your long suffering and persistent efforts to connect with your siblings.  You and Eliza had some fun video game and shopping time over thanksgiving and you never stop trying to connect with Max despite his equally persistent efforts to disconnect.  You are anxious to clear up your acne and build your biceps.  You are embracing your Hispanic nationality and even show signs of being proud of your country of origin.  

You are still the product of some really hard family dynamics.  We all have continued healing and work to do, but our family would be empty without you.  You have always been our chistoso and our source of laughter.  I'm so happy to be your Mom and grateful for everyday I get to discover more about you.  I love you Marcos Samuel Lundberg.