Thirty-One Years Ago

"Children are living messages we send to a time
we will not see."
John Whitehead


The bluebonnets in Texas are popping out everywhere. Every spring, when I see the very first one, the same memory floods my mind: driving home in our 1977 gold Buick Regal holding our newborn first child. I labored only five hours before the nine-pound-six-ounce wonder was flopped on my stomach. At that very moment I became aware of something I had not known about myself: I would be capable of seriously harming with my bare hands anyone that laid a finger on his precious head!

Along with this thought came another: I am now responsible for the life of another human being. I was twenty-two, and that seemed overwhelming at the time. We took him home, and he cried all night the first night. Neither his father nor I knew what to do, so we took turns walking him and I nursed him a lot. I guess he just finally wore himself out and fell asleep.

Those days seemed to go by very slowly, and so the transformation in me was so subtle that I didn't even see it until years had gone by. I was becoming a much better person. I deeply regret not having at least two more children; just think how terrific I'd be!! He he!

Here are some things I learned from my children:

~What is really important--Don't sweat the small stuff. Sit down and color, go outside and throw the football, go to the park, the dishes will wait.

~Everything doesn't have to be perfect! Throw a couple of sandwiches in a bag, grab some chips, and go impromptu.

~Run through the mud puddles WITH them!

~Appreciation of my own mother--the sacrificER always loves more than the sacrificEE

~Everything I do matters

Where did the years go? This child is grown now with a son of his own. It is both a blessing and an amusement to watch him raising his child, because I know that his son is now teaching him!