Birthday Surprise Story

Hi everyone! Today's story was not written by me. My mom wrote it for me as a birthday present (my birthday's coming up). I'm still going to post my own story later this week, but I wanted to share my mom's wonderful story. I think there's a bit of the writing spirit in her, it's just been hiding all these years. So, without further ado:


As a birthday present to Julianna, I've decided it's time to give her a brief respite and so I will fill in for her on her blog this week. Being just as verbose, but not nearly as talented of a writer, I am loathe to attempt any type of fictional story. Therefore my writing will have to be from the "true story" variety. The following is a love story. All quotes are verbatim comments made by Julianna and lovingly recorded by her mother.

                                More Than Infinity and Past Forever

I was not a stranger to love. There were things I loved such as chocolate, books, and the ocean. There were people I loved such as my mother and sisters. I had even found and married a true "soul-mate" with whom I shared an amazing love story including an initial meeting in England at a romantic estate on the Thames followed by a trip throughout Europe getting to know each other. So I thought I was pretty experienced in this particular emotion. But I wasn't even remotely prepared for the love story that was still to come.

I wish I could describe the first meeting between this new love and myself, but I have to admit, I barely remember it. In fact, the first few weeks of this relationship were a bit hazy. I wasn't sleeping much and all my energy was focused on this new love in my life. I had only felt this type of overwhelming unconditional love once before, when my son was born. And now, looking down at my daughter's beautiful face, I realized I was hooked again. This tiny little thing had me completely under her spell.

Over the next 17 years, this spell only grew stronger. This little girl, surrounded by a family that loved her, radiated it back from the very beginning. When she was only 6 months old and I would hold her on my shoulder and pat her back, she would take her little hands and pat me on the back too. Her ability to empathize with others has made her a strong and loyal friend to her peers and a soothing and calming influence in our home.

My daughter comes from a long line of Irish women and can lay claim to the Irish "gift of gab".  As soon as she began to talk she jumped from a few single words straight into full sentences. By age two she was already giving us a running commentary of her life ("Me go see mommy. Me color. Me all done. Now mommy draw"). By age three, she had even become a bit of a philosopher ("If it do, it do. If it don't, it don't") - we still occasionally use that sage piece of advice when there is something that we can't control. And now of course, she writes short stories every week - an amazing feat especially when combined with her schoolwork and other activities. But that's the gift of gab - there's no stopping an Irishwoman once she gets going!

Another one of my daughter's many gifts is her ability to roll with the punches and easy-going nature. Once when she was about three and a half, I was trying to get her off to preschool and running short of time. I thought I had managed okay but when she got home she said "You forgot to put a sandwich in my lunch". Before I could apologize, she followed that up with "I just ate a pretend sandwich". At age four, when I was trying to come up with some choices for her and couldn't think of many, she looked at me solemnly and said: "It's okay to have only two possibilities".  Even now, as a teenager, she has managed to maintain that easy-going disposition. Of course she can get frustrated and disappointed but she always picks herself up and tries to find the silver lining. She really is a "glass half full" type of person.

Another thing that is immediately apparent about my daughter is her wonderful sense of humor. Once, while walking her home from grade school, I thought something had fallen on my head and asked her "What's on my head?" "A few gray hairs" the little imp answered. When she was eight, after listening to her talk about a number of different topics I teasingly asked her how she knew so much. Looking at me with her sparkling smile she replied: "Eight years of experience!" That same year I was lecturing her (once again) about not putting any paper near her clock because it had electricity and I didn't want her to start an accidental fire ( yes, I was a bit paranoid). She innocently looked up and said: "Whoops! I forgot . . . I'll write a note to remember and put it on top of the clock". 

My daughter still makes me laugh every day with her wry and witty comments about life. I know that will be one of the things I will miss the most when she inevitably moves out to start living life on her own. I'll also miss the loving supportive hugs when the day has been difficult, the reading dinners when we find ourselves alone in the evening, the marathon DVD shows we watch together, and the secret stops at Sees Candy on the way home from school.  But I know she will excel in whatever she decides to do with her life and I will delight in watching her share all her many gifts with the rest of the world.

When I was younger, I used to be quite a handful; trying to jump off the doghouse with an umbrella to see if I could fly like Mary Poppins and climbing under a moving car to see how the engine worked. When I had my first child, my mother jokingly said "I hope you have one just like you so you can see what it was like for me" (actually I did, but that is another story). Well that is what I am wishing for you, Julianna. One day (far in the future) I hope you have a little girl just like you so that you can see for yourself just how wonderful it was for me to have had the privilege of raising and loving you.