Age-Appropriate for an Eighteenth Birthday

"Age-appropriate. What makes something age-appropriate, or especially suitable or fitting? We had been hearing this term since Jeff began his weekends at the Culver Road Home. In the spring of 1979 Jeff was eighteen years old, and we were looking for age-appropriate gifts for a boy who loved music and animals, books and inner tubes.~~We had discovered The Electric Light Orchestra, a teenage rock group that both Jeff and we could enjoy. That was a bit of age-appropriate serendipity.~~Jennifer's idea was to give Jeff a fish tank for the fish he had won at a carnival two weeks earlier. She brought two more fish and gave them both a name. Jeff's face litup with joy and delight when she gave it all to him. We considered that a thoughtful, loving, age-appropriate and downright ingenious gift!~~A friend of ours, a counselor at a junior high school where I tutored invited Jeff to a birthday party at his house. It was on Sunday, so we all enjoyed a woship service at his church beforehand. We took lots of instant photos of guests and of Jeff jumping on his inner tube in Bill's back yard. Jeff smiled non-stop through this fitting birthday celebration~~When we shopped for a suit for his birthday, we found a brushed denim suit jacket, vest and pants that really made him look sharp! With a yellow "foxy shirt," a handsome blue "foxy sweater," plus two more shirts and pants from Penney's, these clothes seemed especially suitable for a handsome young man.~~(Excerpt from "Journey With Jeff")~~(Photo of Jen's hand-made Christmas gift.)