Some of you probably know that last month a momentous day occurred. On April 21, 2014 I turned 10 years old. I enjoyed the typical celebrations of a boy my age – party with my crew at Sempeck’s Bowling, family party at Cheesecake Factory, class party at school. I got lots of great presents. Ate lots of cake. Pretty much what you would expect.

But what I didn’t expect was my birthday epiphany. As you know, I am a guy deeper than most. So as I have now spent ten years on earth I took some moments to reflect on my experiences so far. What my life has been like. What I have experienced. What I have noticed. That is when it hit me – my birthday epiphany. It struck me like a bolt: I know why I am here. I know my purpose. To put it simply, I am here to make people happy*.

Let me explain. Everywhere I go – people get happy. People who were frowning – look at me and smile. Folks who were having a bad day – cheer up when I high five them. Moms in the stands at softball games. People in the grocery store. And sometimes people are not in the best of moods. Once I approached a woman getting her car jumped in the freezing Nebraska winter. She turned from her broken car to smile and chat happily with me. In the McDonald’s drive thru, the cashier making minimum wage in the sweltering heat, stops what he is doing to talk to me about my basketball uniform and suddenly there is a huge smile on his face. I don’t try to do it. It just happens. I have the power.

I don’t know why people react this way to me. Of course we all know I am adorable and charming. But I don’t think that is it. Maybe people see me and think about how lucky they are to have the life they have? Maybe I help people remember how humans should act towards each other? Maybe they are reacting to my happiness? . Or maybe…… just maybe….. we all have this power. Maybe what makes me special is that I choose to use it.

Whatever the reason, it is nice to know why I am here.

Below are some pix from bdays past and present. For those that see a broken link – you can copy and paste the link: http://youtu.be/aaUXS01KNNo into your browser – it will take you my private youtube channel to see the video. Watch it. I bet you’ll be happy.

*Disclaimer: This of course does not apply to Katherine M Stoneburner or Alexandra C Stoneburner. For the record, I will continue to torture and disgust them to the best of my ability according to the official code of brotherhood.