Dear Asher,

Now that you’re fourteen months old, there’s something I need to tell you. As you grow up, you will undoubtedly hear me reference the ‘Yarbrough curse’ on a weekly (perhaps daily) basis. I am truly sorry for this, but I promise it’s not my fault. I’m certain that by the time you’re all grown up, you will know the Curse all too well. I have no idea why all Yarbrough males are cursed… my theory is that one of our ancestor’s must have yinged when they should have yanged, and we’ve been paying for it ever since. I’m a big believer in Karma, and I‘ll do my best to teach you the age old principle of ‘what comes around goes around.’

Here are a couple recent examples of the Yarbrough curse at work in my life:

Exhibit A) When we went to Pittsburgh last February on vacation, I lost my drivers license AT the airport. I had to have your Paw-Paw fax me my birth certificate and social security card so I could get home. I called the airlines several times to see if they found my license, but no dice. Over a month after we got home, I finally went to the DMV and waited 3 hours to get a new license. Guess what showed up in the mail the VERY next day…. Yup, the license I lost at the airport.

Exhibit B) In May of this year, on a blistering hot day, I woke up to find that our water heater had exploded and flooded the garage. I went to turn the emergency shut off valve at the top of the water heater, and the knob broke off in my hand. I had to shut the water off for the entire house. Not so bad, right? Well, as noon rolls around, I’m in the garage cleaning up 500 soggy cardboard boxes, and I hear this crazy grinding noise and loud explosion… The outside compressor of our air conditioner blew up. No running water and no A/C. In 4 short hours, the Curse had bitch-slapped us back into the 19th century. Since Paw-Paw knows all about the curse, he helped us install a new water heater that day, but it took 2 more days to have a replacement A/C compressor installed. Those were some hot nights and expensive days!

Exhibit C) When you were born, we sold your mom’s 2 door sports car and bought a 4-door ‘family’ sedan. We were heading out of town for a vacation weekend in Galveston when the timing belt broke, ruining the engine and our vacation. We had to pony up $4000 for a new engine… Looking back, this one was probably more my stupidity than the Curse. Never buy a Hyundai…

Your mother will tell you that the curse doesn’t really exist and that daddy is crazy… She is NOT a male Yarbrough. We’ll let you make up your own mind.

Ow-Sigh!

This month you’ve been obsessed with ‘ow-sigh’, which is your way of saying ‘outside.’ If we let you, you would spend all day, every day outside playing. When it’s time to come inside, you cry and scream ‘ow-sigh’ over and over again. You’ve also learned to sign ‘please’ (rubbing your hand in a circle on your chest). So, now when you want something, you point at it and furiously rub your hands on your chest. Your favorite word is now ‘eat!’ I type it with an exclamation point because that is how you say it. EAT! EAT! EAT!

Watching Stars training camp with papa

I had lunch with an old friend the other day and he said the coolest thing. He has a 3 year old son, and he told me that his life truly began on the day his son was born. I couldn’t agree more. As much as you think you can imagine what it will be like to have a child of your own, you can’t. It is a completely foreign and beautiful feeling to look into the eyes of someone that is half you, and half the person you love… it is simply amazing.

Love,
Papa