Jordan at 23

Jordan and Jamie at the 2009 Rede Reunion in Portland

In the next hour or so I expect to hear the front doorbell ring and there, standing on the porch will be my youngest son and his wife.

As hard as it was for me to come to terms with being 58, it won't be a big deal to have Jordan turn 23. The number seems to fit him. Since getting married in November 2009, he's seen a lot and done a lot, thanks to the military, and done a lot of maturing, thanks to his sweet bride, Jamie.

After they got married, they moved to El Paso and the ironically named Fort Bliss, where life was anything but. Jordan went on training manuevers in the desert mountains north of El Paso and, to the west, the barren terrain of New Mexico. He tried out for the Special Forces (Army Rangers)  in North Carolina and then, earlier this year, he got transferred to Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside Olympia, Washington, about 100 miles north of us.

It doesn't surprise me that Jordan is able to take all the physical training and tedium of the military in stride. He's always loved physical activity and challenges, whether it's skateboarding or wrestling, snowboarding or camping, and he's generally a patient person, although, I'm sure, even he has his limits when asked to inventory the same items he and his fellow grunts accounted for the day before.

Most of all, it seems he has settled nicely into the role of a young husband who's loving toward and supportive of his wife.

It's fun to think back on his different phases and interests, such as ... When he dyed his hair blond and did all kinds of skateboarding tricks in middle school. ... When he took up break dancing, then progressed to mixed martial arts. ... When he lived alone for a few weeks on our Orcas Island cabin, subsisting on part-time summer jobs helping out on a local farm and working in a restaurant kitchen.

Killer Burger baskets

As he's grown older, it's nice to see the bond he has with Nathan and Simone grow ever stronger. I think there is mutual aspect amongst the three of them, who each bring different talents and personalities to the table. They've taken him under their wing in certain ways but there's no doubt that he's flying on his own now: A married man, serving in the all-volunteer Army, and training to be part of a Stryker Brigade at the same time that he remains a kid at heart, laughing out loud at "Elf," guzzling root beer and cuddling his orange-and-white kitten, Mr. Biggs.

If all goes according to plan, we'll take him out to dinner at Killer Burger -- his first time there -- and then come back to tear into his favorite dessert, a chocolate wafer cake with layers of whipped cream.