Happy birthday Jacob! Thirty-nine years ago today, a little screaming baby entered the world two weeks early, jaundiced, hair so light it seemed you didn't have any, wrapped in a pink blanket (they were out of blue ones). I said, "good, I wanted another girl!" Surprise, surprise - you were supposed to be our Sarah - :). It took us almost two days to name you, and the nurse finally said, "if you don't name him - I will!" And so we named you Jacob - not noting that it meant "the deceiver". As you grew, you told us the best stories ever - about EVERYTHING - and we never knew if you were telling us the truth or making it up! I guess that was a gift God gave you because you went on to get your MFA in Creative Writing. When you were little, Grandma Eckstein used to hang your stories on her fridge ands save them, for she always told you that you would be a great writer; Grandpa Eckstein used to hold you on his lap while you told him story after story, and you would make him laugh.
You did remind me one of the last summers you were home, and we were making a fence, that you were no longer "Jacob, the deceiver" but rather "Jacob who wrestled with an Angel and was called Israel." You were one of the most talented and creative people I have met. I continue to be so proud of you! I continue to miss you and love you to the depth of my being...
Genesis 32:24-32
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.