Katie

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, 28 years ago, I became a mother. She was so beautiful, so sweet, so alert, and so so long. Twenty-four inches to be exact, two feet of pure joy……The first few hours of labor were scary, because it was my first. Once my parents arrived, my fear abated. My Mom seemed to know all the right words to keep me strong and focused. There were still a few times when I lost it, and kept asking her ( in between long episodes of not nice words) how did you do this 3 times? She just smiled and said “You’ll understand soon”. When Katie’s journey into the world ended, she was met with a room full of happy tears. The first words she heard “Well hello there Miss Kate”, came from my Mom. I couldn’t take my eyes off heras she laid against my strongly beating heart. I remember how hard it was to let her go when the nurse took her away to be checked over. When she asked me how I felt, I said ” When you give her back I will be the happiest Mom alive, and I would do it all again tomorrow”. She laughed and said it was the hormones talking, but she was wrong. I would have gone through many more hours, and much more pain to be blessed with my Katie. When she was placed back in my arms, all bundled up, looking up at me with those big beautiful eyes, smelling of new life, that smell you wish you could bottle, and save; I thanked God for my daughter, and asked that she always know just how much she is loved, then I whispered the prayer into her tiny ear. Now, 28 years later, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I celebrate Katie, the joys of Motherhood we now share together, and the bond that has given us a relationship I cherish everyday. Today I celebrate much more than just a birthday. I celebrate the day my heart opened up and let Katie in, and the day that began what would become a blessing called Bristol…..