I have to tell you a little bit about myself. I loved playing with dolls as a little girl. I had a baby doll and a toddler doll, so right away I was tuned in to having a family. I have a wonderful mother myself. She is a graduate of Cornell University so she is educated and street smart in the ways of running a home and one’s life. She never taught me to make fudge by myself because the ingredients were too expensive to allow me to use trial and error. But I did learn to can and freeze fruits and vegetables, sew, cook, clean, garden, wash clothes by sorting them into like piles, the importance of our religious faith, to have flowers on the dining room table even in winter, childcare, etc., etc. As is the case with most children, I owe most of my life lessons to my own mother.
So I went off to college with only the goal of marrying my high school boyfriend and starting a family. I had four school years away from that said high school boyfriend only to find out that I did truly want to marry him and start a family! But in the mean time, I had four years to learn to do things for myself and also receive a fine elementary education degree.
Choosing the father of my children was easy for me. Craig had the hottest legs on the eighth grade basketball team. He was blond and handsome. As our high school years progressed, I learned how intelligent and kind he was. He also had five (then six) younger siblings and I watched his excellent parenting skills early on.
I taught the first grade for five years before my dream of becoming a mother came to fruition.
On February 4, 1979, Rebecca Beth was born. Today Rebecca turns 30 years old. She was absolutely perfect. She had a lot of dark hair, which puzzled us, but she also had her father’s beautiful blue eyes. I was now fully content to care for her forever. Rebecca was an easy baby. I breastfeed her whenever she needed it. I held her through her naps because I could. We read to her, sang to her, and talked to her all the time. I changed her diaper often because we used cloth diapers in those olden days. I used a lot of Desitin because she often had a diaper rash! We watched her grow and were amazed at each milestone she reached. Her birth made us a family.
Our life revolved around Rebecca. She loved kittens, she had her first food at six months old, she was standing up in her crib at eight months old, and she was walking before her first birthday.
Rebecca has many wonderful gifts. She has the flare for the dramatic: talent shows at school, school productions/plays and music programs. She has the love for debate and arguing which landed her in the “pick on” chair at the dining room table at dinner time. She has a love for animals. We had dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, and a cockatiel. She has genuine love for her sister and brother. School work was easy for Rebecca because she is a gifted reader. Rebecca is able to retell history in such an interesting way that you feel like you were living during that time period. She was born with strong leadership skills and a heart filled with love.
Motherhood also holds some gut retching moments. For Rebecca I have three. At just under two years old, she broke my heart as I left her to do some substitute teaching and she said “I need Mommy now.” In the seventh grade she told me that she no longer needed me to tuck her in to bed at night. And as a senior in high school when she said that she would go away to college, as we wanted her to do, but she would not study. Life lessons for all of us. Rebecca always marched to her own drum. As parents, we wanted to share our wisdom with her in order to make things easier for her life. In the long run, allowing her to make it on her own, made her so strong and independent.
The greatest reward for me is the thirty year old Rebecca. Today, she is the mother. And for those of you who truly know her, you know she is an amazing mother. It is her care of my next generation that gives me contentment once more. Her children are happy and thriving; they eat their vegetables, and love to read. They also wear cloth diapers just as their mother did thirty years ago!
I wish for Rebecca to reach a time in her life when she is able to watch her children as parents and know that all the love and sacrifice and effort was truly worth it.
Happy Birthday, Precious Child.
Sincerely, Mom (Janet)
Thanks Grammy N., she loves her new baby!
Se also loves her birthday cookies from Grammy T. They're awesome. I've had a half a dozen of these little sugary wonders so far. Mmmm.
