Thirteen years ago,
I thought, “I’m one lucky mom!”
Little did I know. 🙂
I would say “I’m officially the mother of a teenager!” had I not brought on two other teens this March. So I’ll say I’ve officially been a mom for 13 years, and I’m grateful for every one of them.
Thirteen years ago, after overnight labor and two full hours of pushing, the delivery room fell silent. I’d expected to hear my son cry. Instead I could only hear the nurses quietly hurrying along through their procedures. “Is he okay? IS MY BABY OKAY?”
I craned my neck and caught a glance of this little (big!) guy quietly looking around the room while the nurses cleaned him up. Just then they poked his toe for the PKU test, and he let out a low “Ugh!” But by the time they’d set him on my chest (seconds later), he was looking around again, quietly taking the world in. He was just a calm baby.
A LOT has happened since then. Lots of crazy good stuff, but a lot of crazy other stuff too. It’s been tumultuous to say the least. It’s tough again now with this family blending business. But through it all he’s been the most serene kid you’d ever meet. He found the serenity prayer when he was eight (about the time he was going through tests to figure out what was causing his seizures) and printed it out and hung it in his room. He lives by it better than anyone I know. Maybe I can be like him when I grow up. 🙂 And while I’m sure he’ll have to go through some individuation, as all teens do, I’m hoping he’ll keep his serenity forever.
The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.
Amen.
Legend of Velda 