Sixteen

Sixteen years ago, I was just one year out of high school...Tim still had one year to go...



Sixteen years ago on this bitterly cold January night, we bounced along in my mother's blue minivan, on ice and snow covered roads. Mom drove frantically, as I moaned and breathed through each contraction. A nervous eighteen-year-old, Tim tried to remain strong in the backseat. He may have leaned up to talk to me every once in awhile, to whisper words of encouragement. He may have held my hand. He probably did. But, I don't remember. I just remember the snow and ice, the anxious excitement, that look in my mother's eyes...that fierce I-will-meet-the-challenge-brave-the-icy-roads-protect-my-daughter-determined-mother-look.

We were so young...

I had been contracting regularly for some time, and by the time we went to the hospital, the contractions were about five minutes apart. They were getting stronger. I breathed through them for hours as my labor progressed at an agonizing snail's pace. More than twenty-four hours of contractions, (finally) an epidural, and a complicated delivery later, on January 20th, our Timothy was born. I became a mama. And, Tim became a dad.



In one, amazing, miraculous, life-changing moment...we were parents. Oh, the gift this boy has been to our lives. We thank God for all the ways his life has blessed ours. What we have learned about love, grace, life, loss, and family as we have walked through this life and grown-up together, in many ways. He is more man than boy now, as he prepares to get his driver's license and sasses me with his man voice or rolls his eyes to exert his independence. But, when I look at him, I sometimes still see my sweet four-year-old boy, still hear his deep belly giggles, still feel his hand in mine.




Sometimes, I miss my boy...but, even though we don't always see eye-to-eye, I am also thankful for the young man he is growing to be...


Sixteen years ago, I received an amazing miraculous gift...I became a mom!




Happy Sixteenth Birthday, Tim!