This past weekend, we celebrated YaYa’s 18^th Birthday! In an attempt to share a glimpse of his childhood years, I put together a video slideshow for the special day. My emotions bubbled over while I sifted through old pictures and set out to pick just the right music to set the pictures to.

Initially, I had a list at the end of the video naming some of the key individuals who played a significant role in mentoring, coaching, and encouraging both YaYa and *me* along the way. I had envisioned myself giving a little thank you speech at the celebration to personally thank a few of them but opted not to do so. I guess I felt like the video had its own message and I didn’t want to take away from that. Either that, or I just chickened out.

There is a phrase referencing “pushing” or “moving the peanut forward” which I heard recently.  My understanding is that this phase can be used to describe why some people succeed in overcoming seemingly impossible tasks while others do not. The key to moving the peanut forward is to keep the momentum going no matter how small the increments of change may be. Once I gained understanding of the meaning, I immediately made me think of these past 10 years raising YaYa alone.

Certainly my attempt to push my little peanut forward through the years has been one where I have often felt incapable of keeping the forward momentum going.  There have been a handful of people who have been instrumental in helping to motivate, direct, counsel, console, coach, and cheer this young boy towards manhood.

When I really sit down and think on this, the list grows longer and longer. A few of the people who immediately coming to mind are listed below. I am immensely grateful for these people:

• BoBo
• theMAN
• The God Parents
• Mr. & Mrs. Good Neighbor
• Mr. & Mrs. Two Doors Down
• The Carpool Mommas
• YaYa’s Pop Warner Coach and the CVYF organization as a whole
• Stanford Camp Kesem: The counselors and fellow campers
• SFC
• AMHS
• PHS (primarily the football coaches)

Truly, it takes a village to raise kids up properly — especially in these times. I am so appreciative of all of the contributions from my amazing community and, of course, immensely proud of my son, YaYa.