A Game of Thoms

 Warning:

The first portion of this post is an unnecessarily preachy,

poignant personal ramble.

There is no such thing as a normal family.

 On April 12, 1993, after 44 1/2 hours of labor, Samwow was no longer an only child.

My life was graced with the miracle of Thomson Maximilian Pritchard-Torres,

born on the living room sofa with my midwife's fabulous assistance.

He was given his APGAR score, then placed on my chest,

where he turned his head, locked ice blue eyes with mine, and let out a long, sputtering sigh.

I laughed, and said, "I'm with you, Kid!"

 Affectionate and funny, he was an easy child who spit out meat 

the first time I tried to feed it to him.

When he learned to talk, I asked him about it.

"Killing animals is wrong, and God doesn't like it."

 His vivid imagination had him dressing in costume daily.

 His teacher asked me to not allow him to wear costume pieces to school.

"Why?" I asked.

"He looks different." she said.

"How exactly is that a bad thing?"

I went to the principal.

I won that round, and countless rounds afterward.

 Jazz Brunch on The New River

 His love for jazz and classical is unusual for a teenager.

 Frankly, they all have atypical taste.

His willingness to mug for the camera is hysterical.

 

 We consider him our demolition expert on construction projects

 and tech support on computer matters.

 He's fearless with new experiences.

Those ARE real animals!

 

 His looks are almost elven in their quality.

 Christmas Elves

He dovetails his siblings like a puzzle piece.

 

 Social situations, like a friend's wedding, are met with ease

and individual style.

 

 Thom is quite frankly, fearless, capable, determined, and my love.

 Why do I mention all of this?

 Why am I highlighting my middle child so thoroughly?

 In the Fall of 1995, Thom was diagnosed with severe autism.

I was told my perfect, beautiful cherub would never talk,

and would probably never be potty trained.

He'd never have social skills, or bond and form relationships.

I was painted a bleak picture of his future.

Thommy and I got in the car after that meeting.

I took a couple of very deep, gulping breaths, and looked in the 

rearview mirror at the concerned little face staring back at me.

"Are we gonna buy one ounce of their b&*$%#@%^t, buddy?"

He shook his head no.

"I'm with you, Kid!"

Thom will earn his associates degree this year with a 3.75.

Bite me, diagnosis.

We don't bring it up very often because...well...it's not really a THING.

He sounds a little like Elmer Fudd on speed with the volume cranked.

He's a total grammar Nazi in text, and his spelling is flawless

He also has CDO.

That's OCD, but the letters are in the right order.

And while I was ill, the child acted like I was fragile china,

diving to fetch, carry, or transport things,

sometimes insistently taking them from me.

What does a mother do for the 20th birthday of such a devoted, amazing child?

 Why, you throw a Game of Thrones Party, of course!

The next six days will be a whirl of preparations, decorations, libations, and crustaceans!

 There's only two kinds of offspring who enjoy this kind of theme:

artistic, voracious readers who immerse themselves in fantasy for pure enjoyment

and crave cerebral recreation that will employ a combination of these things...

 ...and this guy.

 I'm really, really sorry.

 Sigils are used in Game of Thrones to denote the Houses,

or important families.

We decided our friends and family are important,

as well as our party guests!

Everyone will get their very own banner!

Is your family important?

Wanna play along?

HBO has provided an easy to use tool.

You name your house, choose the background and colors,

a symbol, and a motto.

Download and save it. 

Yeah, it's THAT easy!

It started with Samwow posting this on my personal Facebook page.

I had to hit my buddy who has ONLY read the books.

My husband, the math teacher.

 The birthday boy...

...my lovely daughter...

...the weird bearded guy who started this...

...and my BFF, who has a major event coming up the end of May.
You get the idea.
Wanna sigilize your own clan?
Pop over HERE
and have a little fun littering your near and dear's lives
with some personalized medieval hijinx. 

Tomorrow:
we'll be going through cake choices!

Because...Birthday is coming.