Memories Old, Memories New
I’ve told my oldest daughter, Katelyn, many times, “your sister coming along so soon after you (eleven months) is the best thing that ever happened to you.” I say that because I was so enamored with my first bundle of joy that I dressed her up—even when we were staying home—and held her all day in her early months. I can only imagine the brat she might have become had I not had another little one to divert my attention!
I don’t mean having an eleven-month-old and a newborn was the best thing to happen to me—at least not until they were in school. As toddlers, those two wreaked havoc. Katelyn would help Mackenzie out of her crib, sometimes in the middle of the night, and they’d go exploring. I can still see Katelyn on her hands and knees as a stool to offer her sister the lift she needed to reach the cookie jar. Their father once found them sitting in front of an open fridge with its contents surrounding them. Mackenzie had egg yolk running down the side of her head and face.
God must have believed I was up to the challenge when he blessed me with Clarissa, my youngest, about two years later. Either I learned a lot or became extremely resilient by the time she arrived. The worst mishap I can readily recall from her early childhood was the time she decided to play “hair stylist” and chopped her bangs to her scalp. This incident may stick in my mind because all three girls were bald until they were at least two.
Now that they’re in their twenties and it appears we’ve all come out the other side relatively unscathed, it’s easy to cherish these memories. Even better, we continue to make new ones! A few weeks ago, Katelyn, Clarissa, and I (Mackenzie is working out of state temporarily) felt our eyes well up and our arms tingle with goose-bumps as we admired Katelyn trying on wedding gowns.
One of her close friends who joined us brought her infant. This cooing, chubby-cheeked baby boy had more hair than all of my girls—combined—managed to have when they were his age. Naturally, he captured all of our attention, including Katelyn’s. I snapped a picture of my oldest child cuddling him between fittings and sent it to her fiancé. He readily replied, “We can’t afford that! Tell her to put him back where she found him!” Of course, we laughed, but it wasn’t lost on me that one day, God willing, she will snuggle and soothe her own bundle of joy.
As we enter the month when we celebrate Thanksgiving, my gratitude to God for all of his grace and goodness is endless! What an extraordinary and blissful feeling to experience life that is on a path to come full circle.
