Smalltown Boy

The Boy's fever is down considerably. Thanks for asking.

It turns out he has Croup, an infection of upper respiratory system that restricts the airway and leaves him with a deep, raspy voice. The hospital has given him something so his airway doesn't close up completely, but his deep voice is taking some getting used to.

His normally cute, high-pitched voice has been replaced with a voice like Billy-Bob Thorton in Slingblade, or that kid from The Shining. It's sort of like looking into the future and getting a glimpse of The Boy at puberty - although I expect he'd to be taller.

I've taught The Boy how to say, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash" but his voice isn't quite that deep, so he ends up sounding less like Johnny Cash and more like a hoarse Jimmy Somerville.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Some of my closest friends sound like Jimmy Somerville.