Good morning, my friends. Monday afternoon, we hopped into the car, drove across the bridge, and arrived at the beach for a few days of ocean air. And a birthday! Yes, my one and only son Rhett Stephen, who came by scheduled c-section on a sunny spring morning, turned twenty-two yesterday. All those well-meaning ladies in the grocery store were right, dang it! It does go way too quickly!
Someone should really remind you of that. Amid all the happiness, flowers, balloons, fanfare, and joy that surround the birth of a baby, someone should sit us down and remind us that we have been gifted this blessing for a time. We will have but a few short weeks to hold, snuggle, and rock our new baby until those tiny limbs start poking out of the swaddle blankets you so carefully washed and stacked, thinking you had forever to use them.
We have but a short time to hold a little hand and push a little one on the swing before friends ride up the driveway, asking to come and play. Suddenly, we are walking past those very same stores we used to dream about shopping in for footie pajamas, sundresses, and matching Christmas clothes. We trade Carter's for American Eagle and the toy aisle for electronics. Summer nights change from waiting for the return of your little one from the neighbor's yard to waiting to hear the car door slam in the driveway a few minutes before curfew. And birthdays go from paper tablecloths with brightly wrapped gifts and cake with Grandma and Grandpa to causal dinners with gift cards and dessert.
They really should tell you all that before you leave the hospital. Right after the instructions on installing a car seat or changing a diaper, someone important-looking with a clipboard should sit you down and tell you all these things. And then, after all that, they should tell you that this is precisely how it is supposed to be. And it is beautiful. All of it. The baby that we hold and love will grow and change. Exactly how a baby is supposed to do. Just like we did. And then, this important person should tell you that your relationship with your adult children will be amazingly wonderful! You will find a best friend in each of your children and begin an incredible new journey together. And you will always have someone to help you with your phone and figure out the streaming channels on the television. If someone had told me all that before I left the hospital with each new bundle of joy, I wouldn't be as surprised that my precious son is twenty-two already! Or then again, maybe I would.
Happy birthday to my son Rhett! He is an old soul, full of compassion and concern for others. He is the funniest person I know and hardworking, too. He loves Taco Bell, being with his family, movies, video games, and his beautiful girlfriend, Kyrstin. It has been my privilege to be his mother all these years, and when I get that twinge of melancholy, I remind myself that the best is yet to come!
Have a beautiful Wednesday, my friends!
Billie Jo
