Late Bloomer

Sam makes a troubling discovery in his search for a philosophy book.

Was he not notable enough?

Disconcerted he ponders his finding of three baby albums for the days to come and decides his mother is the only one to blame. Sam has to rely on Skype for this unpleasant dispute with the latter, gets distracted and after ordering a three topping pizza from Dominos online, he feels much better.

Cute Baby!

He has time since the parents are on a three week vacation. Sam opens the three baby albums and starts on page one.

On the hospital's pink card, Betsy is the firstborn and saw the first light at ten AM, weighing 4.5 kg. One year after Mike's blue welcoming card states his 2.9 kg late afternoon. Sam's birth happened soon after midnight with a healthy average of 3.4 kg the year after.

But apparently Sam's childhood ends there, on a blue hospital card.

In the seventh month of Betsy’s celebrated life, she spoke her first word: “Ma-ma”.

Sam guesses Mike’s "Da-da" was a fantasy from the writer as the women in the family are chatter boxes and it is hard for any boy to get a word in. 

While Sam has the freedom to choose, he decides on his first word as “ice-cream,” when he was only nine months old.

The footprints are not too troublesome, where Sam picks bright yellow acryl paint, makes a fist and dots the toes.

Also the teething seems to be a minor issue where Sam got his all at once and just to be quite clear, later got the most coins from the tooth fairy.

Sam turns the pages of three albums to page four. Inside his blank album is a report from the kindergarten and every other day he received an A. The teacher’s note at the bottom brings some memories stored for years in his cabinet of imagination. But there it is in faded black on white: A indicates absence from school. Sam dwells on the possibility of him being Mamma’s anti-social boy. The fireplace is a good place for incriminating evidence as such and without giving it a second thought Sam's report goes up in flames.

Compared to his siblings’ crooked houses and deviated flowerbeds Sam’s first drawing is a masterpiece. The bricks are evenly laid and parked under the tree is he on a three dimensional bike.

Many pizzas later, Sam finally turns to the very last pages of the three albums.  He feels somewhat defeated. Betsy’s picture of her first school day is awesome. She has blond curly locks tied away with bright blue ribbons and rosy cheeks. Mike has a front tooth missing, but in the picture he is already the number one financial planner.

Needless to say Sam's album has no picture. 


He takes the black marker and inside the frame for My First Day at School Sam writes: You had to be there to witness my awesomeness.

Story adapted from Amanda.

Photography courtesy of Christine Bergsma