I remember the day Kaitlyn was born like it was yesterday.
I woke up about 2:00am that Monday morning, looked at Lance and said, “I think I’m in labor.” Not the best timing – it was snowing, Lance had to pick up some guy at the airport on the other side of the city, drop him off somewhere else, and then return home to GET ME TO THE HOSPITAL.
So, while Lance drove in the snowstorm to the airport and back I tried to remain calm. I packed my bag for the hospital. I looked at the baby’s bedroom and tried to picture an infant asleep in that crib – boy or girl? I must have called my mother back in Wisconsin at least a half a dozen times that morning seeking her words of wisdom. (Big long distance phone bill - not many people owned cell phones back then.) I remember thinking I was so glad I had sent in my absentee ballot the week before because it was a presidential election and I wanted my vote to count. And that the old wives tale about “nesting” was true as I had spent the prior weekend cleaning. Lance finally got back around 10:00am and we headed to the hospital. Precisely at 3:21pm our beautiful baby girl presented herself to the world.
Kaitlyn inherited her clear blue eyes from me. People have commented on her eyes (and the similarity to mine) for as long as I can remember. Kaitlyn once asked me how I handled the comments on my eye color when I was growing up. Honestly, I didn't get complements on my eyes like she does. I grew up wearing thick glasses, so no one really noticed their color. It wasn't until I was in high school and got contacts that people realized how blue my eyes were, and then they thought I must have colored contacts - not that my eyes were naturally that color.
Kaitlyn had very little hair as an infant (okay, she was bald), but when her hair started growing in - wow! Like her father and her Grandma Ruth (my mother), she has very curly thick hair...which she hated as a child and early teen. Curly hair made her different - and when you are a kid, the last thing you want to be is different. I remember Kaitlyn spending her freshman year in high school straightening her hair every morning in an attempt to look like everyone else. It was not until the middle of her sophomore year that she finally embraced the curls - thank goodness!
Kaitlyn's birthday comes midway through her senior year in college. Unlike me, Kaitlyn learned how to budget her time between academics, sports, and social activities early in her life. She entered college well prepared and will graduate in four years with an honors level GPA. She has a wonderful friend group and a life grounded in faith. Kaitlyn is an intelligent, enthusiastic, well-balanced college senior who is about to enter a new phase in her life - but not quite yet.
Like my daughter, the year I turned twenty-two, I was also a senior in college. Unlike Kaitlyn, I was a "super senior" - not graduating until December. Full disclosure; the reason I graduated in December instead of May was because I dropped out of college in my Sophomore year. This was partly because my grades were not very good as I never learned how to study (never had to before - good grades always came with no effort), partly because I partied too much, and partly because I was just feeling lost and didn't know where my life was going. So, I quit school and went to work. After six months or so, I realized I needed a college degree. I returned to school on academic probation, buckled down, brought my GPA back up, found a new friend group, and finally graduated.
I am so glad Kaitlyn did not follow my collegiate path!
Kaitlyn is twenty-two today - and I can't believe how quickly the years have flown by. It seems like only yesterday I was the young woman celebrating my twenty-second birthday and dreaming of the future. Now I am watching Kaitlyn celebrate her day - and looking forward to her own exciting future.
So, happy birthday to you, my dear daughter. Celebrate the day and know that with God all things are possible - just let your heart be open to the joy of living each day to the fullest. You have a wonderful future ahead of you, full of unexpected delights...enjoy them!
“Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” ~Habakkuk 1:5
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