Twenty Nine Years

In the State Journal and Register of Springfield Illinois end of the year wrap up in 1981, it stated the the best day of the year was May 16th. A rather tongue in cheek award for the horrible flooding that ravaged the area.  Record breaking rain and storms. But for Hubby and I, we were savoring the day, for our second child, our first son was born in the quiet of that rainy, rainy day.  The precipitation kept visitors at bay so the maternity/surgical area was restful and silent.  Despite the fact that multiple births happened that day due to the crazy barometric pressure that came with the weather change.  Seems like every pregnant woman due around that time, went into labor.  My non emergency Cesarean, kept getting bumped on into the dawn, after my arrival at the hospital at midnight.  We didn't mind.  We enjoyed silence and the time alone before the craziness of becoming a family of four started to become a reality.

Eldest Son entered this world as he became.  He was a quiet, easy baby.  He loved to sleep as he does to this day.  He was accommodating, flexible, loving and adorable.  Still is.    

Eldest Son was the perfect first son.  He must have read the manual on Being Boy.  He made all the noises of cars, animals, trucks and Super Heroes.  ES could step into fantasy and pretend better than anyone I have ever known.  His rich imagination kept us all entertained and his own brilliant mind engaged for hours.  He was a Lego master, a dinosaur expert and a Transformer Collector.  His collection of Super Heroes was second to none.  He was a perfect addition to our First Born Super Girly Caregiver Daughter.  Eldest/Admin cared for her little brother like an expert.  She knew his answers before he gave them.  And she was always right.  He called her Nannon and when he would call 'Mommy', sometimes I knew that he meant his 'other mother'.....It was a close, dear friendship that continues today...Good, good buddies.....

Just because he was a he, I was not going to keep that from sewing for the little guy.  Pictured is my first sewing attempt for him.  His sailor suit for his first birthday.  Blue linen with middy braid to make it official.  My dear neighbor/mentor, would watch him and his sister while I sewed on it and she helped me with the buttonholes.  I think of her every time I see this photo.  All new moms need a mentor/helper/teacher in their time as a Young Mommy.....For his second birthday, I made a seersucker suit, with a collarless jacket and suspender shorts to go with.  Adorable.

Eldest Son and I had a paper route that began his freshman year in high school and finished the week he graduated.  Every morning, except Christmas, we were up at 4am to deliver the daily paper.  The times we spent that daily hour and half was instrumental  in our relationship.  We discussed everything in those wee hours, uninterrupted by the world except by the running back and forth throwing and placing carefully, the papers of our craft.  We battled the elements, discussed politics, sex, marriage, peers, family issues, and the occasional naked man on the route.  Walking over drunks sometimes happened as well.  Great discussion starters. He would reluctantly help me cart of furniture from the garbage of some ill informed former owner.  Some of my best deals were scored before the break of Garbage Day.  And he would help me cart it.  On Sundays, we would go to the back door of the the donut shop to collect the day old donuts for our church in the inner city.   The two of us in our layered, winter early morning gear, was a great sight.  Especially as ES noshed on one of the second hand donuts on the way home.  Good Times.  One of the most endearing qualities of This Young Man was he determination to do the Right Thing.  He has strong convictions that sometimes brought on conflicts with popular thought.  But he has an iron will and and he would persevere on, no matter how difficult it was.  Strong convictions can make for some pretty lonely times, but he stood the course.  ES had some very specific requirements about his spouse.  And he persevered till they all arrived in one Beautiful Package that is Lovely Wife.  Very Worth Waiting For.  She even became a Cubs/Illini Fan for Her Hubby...Near Perfect, eh?     During a particularly bad time for him, after we moved to our new location and he moved from everything familiar at a crucial stage in his life, we had lunch together on his 19th birthday.  He shared the miserable stage of his life and I remembered promising him, that if he continued on the path that the Lord had for him, things would be worth it all.  That the life that God had planned for him would far exceed anything that he could do on his own.  That walking closely to His Lord would lead him to a place that he would forget the current misery.  And on the day of his wedding, while we danced the Mother /Son Dance, I asked him, this man before me, if he was a happy boy, and the smile that had not left him the whole day, broadened and he seemed to remembered that long ago conversation, and nodded, and said with great confidence, 'Yes.  I am a very happy boy.'

And with that, my mama's heart was full as I handed over to his completer, a man of integrity.  My mama's job done.  A journey completed, boy into man.  So on this anniversary of his 29 years on this earth, I thank God for His presence in this wonderful man's life. Thank you, Lord........