That being said...Day 3 of giving thanks for my blessings continue!
How precious it is to recieve, not just one gift from God, but two!! When son #2 appeared, I was worried I wouldn't have enough love to go around, but I didn't have to spread it thin, it doubled. There was my little boy all swaddled up, wearing his WV Mountaineer sleeper, sleeping peacefully and waiting on Dad and brother #1 to pick him up.
When I had son #1, he became the church baby. Everyone thought they had some kind of claim on him, and they did. They were my family and I loved watching him show off for them and make them smile. But when son #2 came along, I decided he was going to be mine only. I got a little stingey and selfish.
He was so beautiful. I would put him on my shoulder and pat his back while he looked behind me at all the faces and would give everyone a big, toothless smile. As a toddler, he had these huge blue eyes fringed with thick, long eyelashes and people would stop me in the stores to tell me what a gorgeous baby I had. I didn't need them to tell me, I already knew it.
He would entertain himself for hours with matchbox cars, an old blanket, and his Fisher Price little people.
He was always the little perfectionist. While other kids colored big blobs of colors on their pages, his were blue skies, smiling sunshines and all of it within the lines. I once had a pastor ask me how we got him to be so quiet in church, while his little girl was causing chaos all over the place. haha. It wasn't so much what we did, but rather, it was who he was.
He always had a gentle spirit and a gentle heart. We used to sing and pray together when he was a little boy. We always sung when we were in the car. He was truly my gift from God.
His perfectionism carried over into school, sports, and anything else he decided to do. He never accepted just doing enough to get by, he had to give everything he had to succeed. During elementary and jr. high school he was a little smaller than the other boys, and it bothered him at times, but to the other boys he was someone they looked up to no matter his size.
By the time he was in high school, he had become the boy others wanted to be friends with and to follow. His teen years were filled with girls, school work and sports.
The funny thing is, that as much as I tried to make him just mine, he was the most independent of all my children. He didn't want to be seen too much with mom, and especially didn't want mom hugging on him in front of his peers, and definitely wanted to make his own decisions.
The teen years were as fun with him as with son #1. There were boys at my house almost everyday. They walked in wanting to know what was for supper, they ate all my food and I would have to hide my husband's food so it wouldn't be eaten before he got home.
Even though he was Mr. Independent, we had so many good times. We would go shopping or on a trip, just the two of us, and it never failed that something would happen to get us tickled and we would laugh hysterically, until I was in tears. He has such a dry sense of humor. He can just say a word or two and it can crack everyone up in the room.
There was a life changing moment when he was a senior. He and some friends went to see a skit that was put on by another church, and the things done and said in the skit began to work in his heart. One Sunday after church, for some reason or other it was just the two of us, and he began to ask me a few questions about life and death and after death. So, on our way home that day, I pulled over into the parking lot of a car dealership, cut off the engine, and had the priviledge of introducing my son to my Saviour. As we bowed our heads, I watched the tears fill his beautiful, blue eyes and spill down his cheeks while he prayed and asked Jesus to be his Saviour too. I will never forget that moment.
My son #2 graduated valedictorian, went on to a Christian college for a couple of years and dedicated himself to making good grades, found life long friends, and grew into a fine young man. It was during this time he realized what God's will was for his life, so he finished college with honors, followed in his dad's footsteps, went on to medical school and now has his own practice.
As in everything else, he wanted to be exactly right in his decision about his life's companion, and he waited until God had placed the right girl in his life. She's a perfect fit for him and for our family. Now, they have given us another blessing, a perfect little girl, our granddaughter. (but that's for another thanksgiving moment!)
It was hard sometimes being mom to such an independent person, but it isn't hard, at all, to love him and be proud of the man he's become. How I love to hear him talk of his goals, his plans, and his life. What a joy to my heart when the phone rings and I hear that deep voice say, "Hey mom, whatcha doing."
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