I could never have imagined the way he would impact my life. Not in my wildest dreams. People told me I could not understand the love a parent has for a child until I had children of my own.
And they were right.
I didn’t understand.
But then, I didn’t really believe them either. At least not deep down in my soul.
He blasted into this world 25 years ago today just after 7 a.m.
And my life has never been the same.
It had been a long night of labor and I believe that just might have been indicative of the long road ahead. A long, joyous, exciting, sometimes trying, but always adventurous road ahead.
This is one of my favorite pictures. He was about 2 and those two teeth you see are all he had for a long time.
See that clinched fist? That is how he clings to things he holds dear to his heart. For many years it was a lego piece.
Or a possum puppet.
These days it is family. His grandparents. Life.
He lives life to the fullest and I am so proud of him.
He was four in this picture. I always thought this would make a good “milk moustache” picture.
These days he drinks milk by the gallons. And eats cereal by the box full.
He has made mistakes…and so have I.
He has made decisions he regrets…and so have I.
He has said things he shouldn’t have said…and so have I.
He has let go of dreams…only to find new, different and better dreams.
He has pushed me to my boundaries, only to give me the biggest hug and say, “I love you, Mom. Thank you.”
He has always said “I love you.” Even in high school in front of his peers.
These days, he rarely leaves the house without saying “I love you.”
at the beach last year
When he was born he was the shortest baby in the nursery. He measured just over 20″. These days he is 6′ 6″.
He works and goes to school full-time.
He goes to church, has a personal relationship with the Lord and sometimes keeps his room clean.
And keeps the door shut if it’s not clean.
He has learned that life doesn’t always go as planned or dreamed, but that all of the detours make up who we are.
The detours are part of our story. And our story is designed by God….so it is a story worth living and reading.
Andy, I love you more than you can possibly know…you enrich my life.
And while there have been times that I didn’t think I go do this mom thing one more day, I am so glad I did.
I love you and I am so proud of the man you have become…
Love this!! It's so hard to wrap up 25 years in a blog post, but this is packed with so much feeling. I'm loving the pictures, especially the 4 year old one. How adorable. Happy Birthday Andy!
As the weeks have drug on it has been easy for me to lose hope.
Will things ever get back to some type of normal? People were not created to live in isolation.
Will we be able to see someone smile or will we always look at them and only see their eyes?
Will people gather without having to sit 6’ apart?
I don’t know the answer and I’m not posting this to debate the news media’s portrayal of the pandemic.
I’m sharing this today because I spent some time with the Lord thanking him for the things I DO have and not focusing on the things I don’t have. The things I have lost since March.
I looked up scriptures about hope.
I made a list in my prayer journal of things I’m grateful for.
Life goes on. Life crisis continues even during this pandemic. People die naturall and tragically. And babies are born. And weddings happen and new lives begin.
This crisis in our world isn’t a surprise to God.
And my hope and security is in Him.
If you scroll through the photos, you see things that made me smile this morning and reminded me of the goodness of God - even now.
With all the grief and sadness in the world I wasn’t sure how I would handle today. How I would allow myself to grieve this loss? Today when there has so much WRONG in our world. In a post @deidrariggs shared today she reminded us that life goes on. And I realized that today this is my life. And I can grieve this loss. My life goes on... I am thankful for the 4 days we had her. On Friday I will remember each event of her last day and I will remember her dying in my arms.
And I will be both sad and grateful. #infantloss #trisomy18 #stlouischildrenshospital
Love this!! It's so hard to wrap up 25 years in a blog post, but this is packed with so much feeling. I'm loving the pictures, especially the 4 year old one. How adorable. Happy Birthday Andy!
Thank you, Kathleen. The cards your kids made were adorable!!!
Can't tell you how much this post does my heart good.
Thank you, Nancy. I know you can relate!
What a beautiful birthday expression of a Mother's love…Your story sounds so familiar. Give him lots of hugs from your blogging friends….
Oh, Nancy…you are always to encouraging to me.
Mary,
You are blessed to have Andy for a son, and he is certainly blessed to have you and John for parents. God bless you all.
Bill