I want to take a moment (indulge me, here) to honor my children.  Both of them, Jeff (aged 11) and Rebecca (aged 9) have recently discovered that their mother is a published poet.  Jeff was particularly interested in reading some of my works and was dazzled by “Mother Winter.”  (See the comment he left – priceless!) Rebecca has claimed bragging rights and has told all her teachers that her mom is a writer.  God love her – I doubt her teachers care in the least, except that they know Beck will get extra help with her writing projects.  In any event, I want to put the spotlight for a moment on my two youngest.

Jeff is the light of my life, although he hates having his picture taken! He’s bright, funny, and has the most incredible blue eyes you’ve ever seen.  He loves to write (hmm, wonder where he gets that?), and has terrific eye-hand coordination.  He would be a baseball great if he would take the initiative to participate in baseball!  He’s also on the shy side, which is why he doesn’t play a team sport.  Thank goodness for intermediate school gym class!  His teacher has the students play six week stints of different sports.  He seems to enjoy football, thank goodness.  His teacher has invited him to be on the 7th grade team next year, and I know he’ll love it.  Now if I can get past the mental images of my son being injured or maimed during his play, I’ll be fine!  Jeff can make mesmile at any given time of day.  He picked up a facial expression from Dana Carvey, during his scene as a Turtle in the movie, “Master of Disguise.”  That turtle lip gets me every time and I end up floating away from whatever bad mood has gripped me at the moment.

         

 

He also loves Jim Carrey and can quote, almost word for word, the script of When Nature calls.  He’s my joy and my blessing and I wanted to honor him with this entry!

 

Now, my Becky is not only my baby, but very much her Daddy’s Blessing.  After our son was born, my husband was insistent on having another son.  When we learned that another baby was on the way, despite ultrasounds and dangling the ring over the tummy to tell the sex of the baby, we were never able to definitively tell what the sex was.  We would have to wait until she was born.  When the day finally did arrive, my husband was there with eagerness to welcome his son.  When he saw that his second son was a daughter, I could see some sadness in his eyes.  Yet, while my legs were still in stirrups, with doctors and nurses busily doing their business with me, I looked to my husband and told him, “Just wait.  This child will beyour biggest blessing.”  To this day he agrees with me.  She has his heart on a string!  He makes it a point to take her out on a “date” for her birthday each year, where he woos her with a piece of jewelry and dinner at a fancy restaurant. The photo shown here is the birthday date last year.

       

Becky is a very creative person, loves to come up with craft projects on her own, enjoys cooking, and I kid you not, watches the Food Network whenever she gets a chance.  She wants to be a nurse one day, but also a World Renown Chef.  I think she’s off to a wonderful start!  She also loves to swim ona swim team and is very competitive.  There is not a shy bone in this girl’s body.  Her bubbly personality attracts people to her, so it’s a good thing she’s very social.

 

I wanted to take a moment to mention my eldest daughter, Amanda, as well.  She’s my angel and my best friend. She’s 23, and has had a few bumps and knocks already in her young life.  She became a wife and mother at the tender age of 16 (they’re still married now with three kids). She struggles now as a military wife – a very lonely life -- and is finishing high school at home.  Her dream is to go to college where she wants to earn her R.N.  I know she’ll succeed.  She has an inner strength, and only needs encouragement to see it and feel it.  She has blessed me with three wonderful grandchildren, whom I don’t have the space or time to write about in this entry. I’ll save it for another time.  I adore all my children and wish them all the blessings life has to offer and the courage to accept those blessings.

 

Love,

Mom