Happy 21st Birthday, David

Happy Birthday, David 

We are celebrating David's birthday tonight. Only problem, David isn't here to celebrate with us. But that didn't stop us from going to Baskin and Robbins and buying this ice cream cake. David, we're sorry we can't have you here with us.

But I know he's not exactly missing us tonight. He is spending the weekend in Houston being wined and dined by the Baylor College of Medicine. He was picked up at the airport by a limo (wow, this is just like prom!) then taken to a nice hotel. During the day today he interviewed with seven faculty members about how he might fit into medical research in their MD/PhD program (otherwise known as a Medical Scientist Training Program. He has been officially accepted into both the PhD and the MD programs, and the interviews this weekend will determine how much funding he will get (the difference between "you pay them" and "they pay you").

Speaking of wining, David told me on the phone this afternoon that someone figured out it was his birthday today, and his 21st birthday at that. The group sang to him and then he said 7 or 8 people offered to buy him a drink tonight, now that he's 21. He said he might try something if it had lots of sugar and fruit in it, because he thought wine smelled like cat pee. I told him, "Now just because you're 21 doesn't mean you have to give in to peer pressure." He replied, "Mom, if I were giving in to peer pressure, I would have tried something a long time ago."