24 Years Ago Today!!

February 4, 1985

I was sitting in the park eating peanut butter on a banana and feeling a lot of contractions and wondering, for the 100th time, if this was the Big Day!!

And it finally was!

After worrying for a month that I would somehow go into labor and sleep through it (ROFLMAO) it was time for The New Arrival!
Back in those days when dinosaurs roamed the earth we didn't know before hand if we were having a boy or a girl-- so we had names all ready for both! Bethany Anne for a girl and Brandon Michael for a boy.

I loved being pregnant! I was so prepared and calm for our Bradley Method, no medication under any circumstances, birth. We were so calm we didn't even have anyone come to the hospital. So when things went bad and they knocked me out and got that baby out poor Dad was all alone! When I woke up, he told me "We have a baby boy!" And when I woke up 15 minutes later and didn't remember, he told me again. And again. And again!

That, it turns out, was the easy part.
The next day I realized what I had done and started crying-- full of pity for this poor defenseless child who had clueless idiots for parents! I remember telling everyone that I was sure he would starve to death because I had NO IDEA what to do! I had never even changed a diaper before!!
WHAT WERE WE THINKING????
Amazingly, in spite of ourselves, he thrived. This tiny little baby performed a miracle:

He made me a Mom!

Oldest grandchild, firstborn nephew-- he was the object of way too many
adults' complete attention and adoration! He was colicky and he didn't sleep more than 2 hours at a time until he was 4 years old but when that kid smiled-- all was forgiven!

Brandon was an amazing kid: He didn't inherit a great singing voice from either of his parents but he was an athlete in spite of those same genes! Astonishing! Master of Lego Construction, collector of Ninja Turtles, patient explainer of how the Star Wars Collection Card Game worked, fixer of all machinery, technological wizard-- that was my boy!



In a few years he became a terrific big brother to Lauren.

He wanted to take her to show and tell in a box and was terribly disappointed that she wasn't going to automatically speak Spanish when she talked so she could teach him. When she was old enough, at least in his mind, he introduced her to one of his favorite activities-- turning the back 1/4 acre of our land into an enormous mudbog and playing in it for hours. We won't talk about the fort they made!

When he was 15 we read "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" together and he told me he didn't plan on dating until he was out of college and established in life. I told him not to be too sure, you just never know what life has planned for you. A few months later I sent him off to his Junior Class Trip by himself and he came home with the Love of His Life, Jericho-- who is now my favorite Daughter-In-Law. (She was on the trip too-- he didn't just find her somewhere.) Sometimes love is right under your nose!


Today my baby is 24. He is an EMT and makes his living helping people and showing compassion. He is learning to be a good husband and spiritual leader of their home. He is romantic and tender and strong and a little tiny bit arrogant.

I feel truly blessed by God that my little baby has grown up to be such an amazing man.

Happy Birthday, Dear Brandon Happy Birthday to You!!! And Many More!!! I Love You~~ Mom