Christmas came early that year. Exactly nine months, in fact. A prophetic number representing a lifetime of waiting,
wondering, and worrying. Three days ahead of time in the third month of a year ending in three. Is there a pattern here?
I hoped for a different date containing a seven. Yet there were abundant signs that I'd relinquished control, assuming that I ever really had any at all. Who was I expecting?
Some memories are so stirring they remain etched just beneath the surface and can be summoned anew instantly. Elation mixes with anxiety, discomfort mingles with relief. Welcoming a child entails emotions not previously experienced and an exquisitely altered life's journey.
Selecting her own birthday, our daughter settles on the twenty-fifth. She provides some notice of the impending event and then seems reluctant for the process to conclude. Her worn parents long for speed but focus on ensuring a healthy arrival. At 2:34 pm, she's finally here.
Tucked away in the hospital nursery, where she is definitely the loudest and most extraordinary newborn, her mom and dad can exhale at last. On her first night, there's a celebratory dinner for the adults.
Looking at today's calendar, I wonder how three decades could have melted away so quickly. Where is this face?
Or these sweet images?
It's birthday time, Caitlin's favorite. With years of childhood parties as a tradition, she expects no modification as she transitions from child to young girl to college student to working young adult to married lady to a newly minted thirty. Surrounding herself with dear, devoted family and friends, she knows how to live life. She always has.
This annual celebration of Caitlin's birth offers moments of reflection. Her personal palette is bright, engaged, committed. Devoted to Bobby, we know her happiness quotient is fulfilled. Caitlin combines sass and sophistication, generosity and loyalty, compassion and candor with a zestful appreciation of people and places. She loves New York, Portland, Sweden, New Orleans and even Palm Springs. Shoes, music, burritos, travel, cats, writing, vegetarianism, reading, family stories, friends, sundresses, Magic Mountain, other roller coasters, and photography crowd her favorites' list.
This independent, energetic woman inherited her dad's imposing brain and dramatic blue eyes as well as his profound musical predilection. From me, there's the Southern appreciation of all things 'family,' an inescapable shopping habit and an unquenchable love of novels. Caitlin's deftly embraced the geographical differences represented by her parents and crafted her own unique response.
While I am certain that having Caitlin as a friend is something to be treasured, it cannot compare to the exultation of being her parents. She is, after all, beyond expectation.
Happy Birthday from Dad and Mom.
