A text I recently sent to my two oldest sons was factually accurate, but a bit eyebrow-raising.
“Your brother just married your brother!”
On July 3, our son Zach officiated at the wedding of our son Sam. I got a bit excited when I texted our older two, who weren’t able to join us in Texas for the festivities.
The ceremony, witnessed by close family and a handful of friends, was beautiful in every way.
Sam grew up in newsprint. He started first grade the same year I began writing Front Porch columns – much of his life documented in column inches. His three older brothers frequently appeared in print, but as the youngest by five years, Sam was around a lot more.
The knowledge that he was our grand finale in the parenting circus imbued many milestone moments with added emotion.
Some marked with sweetness – his first wobbling steps. Some with relief – no more potty training!
However, gratitude is the real reason I’ve documented so many of his milestones. You see, we weren’t sure if he’d get to have them.
Sam was born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. A hole had formed in his diaphragm during gestation, allowing his stomach and intestines to move into his chest cavity, crowding his heart and lungs. Our newborn was given a 50/50 chance of survival.
At 3 days old, he underwent surgery to repair the hole in his diaphragm. After a three-week stay in the neonatal intensive care unit at Sacred Heart, we brought him home.
During his final follow-up visit with the surgeon, we discovered that though he’d been born with only one lung, he now had two. It seems he’s been a bit of an overachiever ever since.
In 2018, he graduated from Mt. Spokane High School, and two years later, he received his Bachelor of Arts from EWU, thanks to the Running Start program. He earned his master’s from the university in 2022. Shortly thereafter, he accepted a job in the English Department at Odessa College.
Last fall, a new teacher joined the department, and soon Susan’s name was mentioned in every call home.
“We’re just friends,” he insisted.
That lasted about a month. He proposed on Thanksgiving. See what I mean by overachiever?
While waiting for true love to move from Bakersfield, California, to Texas to find him, he authored two novels. “The Deep Dark Place” was published in February by Cloaked Press and is available on Amazon, at bookstores, and at Spokane County Libraries.
Shortly before the wedding, he learned his second novel, “The Gospel of Dust,” had been accepted by the same publisher.
We’re enormously proud of all of our sons, but over the years, I’ve worried that Sam’s precarious start and precocious nature have made them feel overshadowed.
Then I remember that they’ve witnessed each milestone with me. How they’ve celebrated the youngest one that was almost lost to them, but now irrevocably part of their band of brothers.
I opened “The Deep Dark Place” and re-read the dedication to his three older brothers.
“What a privilege it was to once be boys.”
Sam’s marriage marks a new chapter in a story that continues to bring joy and gratitude in equal measure to all of us.
Cindy Hval 