My little boy man is 21 today, and is celebrating in Paris right now. He left on a two month trip to work/model with his agencies in Europe. He traveled to Germany and Spain already and is now in Paris and will end up in London before heading back to New York. So unfortunately I'm not able to celebrate this momentous occasion with him.
Jullien has always been my tenacious kid. He was born two weeks early and when he was not quite a year old we moved from California to Utah to be close to my family. Just as we arrived he became very sick and listless. We rushed him to the ER and it turned out he had pneumonia. It was really scary and we weren't sure if he was going to pull through; little did I know way back then...I had a little fighter on my hands (in more ways than one!) Luckily he came through it with only slight lingering lung weakness that appears whenever he gets the cold or flu (it drops straight to his lungs.)
Jullien was always a skinny, lanky kid but had a huge attitude to compensate. He would stand up to anyone who came at him or his brothers, his friends, or someone who was getting picked on. This served him well in sports. He was really talented at football, baseball, basketball, surfing and volleyballl. He had a never quit, never let anyone get you down or tell you that you can't do something attitude. He would push through any obstacle like a bulldozer. No one was going to hold him back from something he wanted or wanted to achieve.
During his Senior year he started at safety but was moved up to linebacker for Edison High School. He didn't look like your typical linebacker, but he hit like a freight train. No one could ever understand how he had so much strength. During one of Edison's practices, Jullien kept getting by one of the huge lineman and sacking the quarterback. The coaches began to yell at the kid for being unable to stop Jullien. After about the third or fourth time of getting beat, the 250+ lb kid charged Jullien after the play was over hitting him from behind and knocking him to the ground. Jullien...all 130 lbs of him went crazy on the kid, flipping him over and ended up on top of him punching him. They finally had to pull Jullien off the kid. He definitely earned the respect of the players and coaches and proved that the size of the player doesn't necessarily matter, it's what's on the inside that's important. I think that's when the coaches decided to move him from safety up to linebacker.
Jullien has applied that same perseverance to everything he does. I can honestly say that I admire his fearlessness; his ability to charge at an obstacle and conquer whatever is in front of him. I've been so blessed to have such a wonderful son who has not only a big personality but an even bigger heart!! So today on his 21st birthday...I've posted 21 pictures of my boy throughout the years. I want him to know how proud I am of him and how much I love him. Happy Birthday Jujy!! I love you and am so blessed call myself your mom.
Never stop chasing your dreams!!
YOU"RE 21 WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
