31 Years Ago

I will never forget waking up to a baby son; thirty one years ago they still put mom's to sleep when they were having a baby. It was America's bicentennial, and I was five days late. We spent part of the day at Judy, and Cris's, pool and then went home for a nap. We had no air conditioning in those days and I remember laying our heads at the foot of the bed with a huge box fan blowing hot air on us--it was probably in the middle 90's. We were invited to go out to Disney to watch the fireworks, however, Bruce wisely said no. When I awoke from the nap I felt a little funny, but we went out to some job site Bruce was working on at the time, then to Lake Eola to watch the fireworks there. When the display was delayed for some reason I really began to get uncomfortable. We managed the walk back to our 1963 VW Beetle and went home for Bruce to shower. I laid on the couch thinking--this must be labor. Off to the hospital we went. By then the pain was pretty intense. Their examination revealed that I was in transition and they were asking--"do you want to be put to sleep?" By this point I was hyperventilating and said--"I'm passing out anyway!" The Lamaze classes were never very helpful to me or maybe I didn't practice enough--at any rate, this first time went like described. Hospital arrival time--10:30pm July 4. Delivery time--1:30am July 5.

I could have never imagined how having Matt would influence my life. I dreamed that we would make this huge impact on his life, and maybe we have, but these days, it's been reversed. This picture perfectly illustrates my point.

The blouse was a gift from Matt. This is my office; most of the photographs you see were taken by him. As well, it was my idea to paint the room orange, with green accents, but he convinced me the other way around was for the best. We went shopping -- he found the curtains which I adore. He tediously painted the brown trim on the shelving, and you already know how much he's helped me with computer issues. Not to mention school issues, and my camera.

When we came home with our adorable little boy it was quite a challenge. I often cried while he cried. I rocked him while singing rock and roll songs to him during the middle of the night hoping to get him to quiet down. He wouldn't walk, nor would he talk. Every baby book I consulted would have had me believe that he was developmentally delayed. The fact of the matter is that he has never done anything, then, or now, that he wasn't perfect at. When he finally began to talk at age 2, it was in sentences. Age 3 found him helping me care for twins. And so the story goes--he is just plain amazing at whatever he does.

Thank God for that day thirty one years ago--it's been quite a ride. Happy Birthday dear Matt.