Tuesday, February 14, 2012

My Valentine Memories

It's a day about love...love....love. All through my life Valentine's Day has held different meanings. When I was a kid in grade school it was always a fun day for handing out special Valentine's to my classmates and friends. I always looked forward to making the little Valentine's bags and getting to walk around the class room to drop my cards off in everyones bags. I remember making sure to choose just the right card to give to just the right person. If there was a boy I had a crush on, I always wanted to make sure to give him one that said something about "being my valentine" on it.
As I got older though, it never really held the same meaning for me. Sure it was nice on those occasions where I had a boyfriend. We did the cards, flowers, dinner thing...romance and lovey dovey. Even when I got married, it was never really one of my highly anticipated holidays. I didn't hate it...but it just wasn never my favorite day.....that is until 8 years ago. :o)
8 years ago today, Emma was born. She came into this world "sunnyside up" with her arm up and holding her hand to her ear. The doctor commented on how she was a girl because she was already pretending to talk on the phone. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. She had chubby little rolls on her arms and legs...she was crying, I was crying, my husband was crying....it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. As I held her in my arms, I stared at her face...imprinting it in my mind forever...noticing every little thing that made her uniquely her. I knew from that moment on that I would do anything for her. I would go to the ends of the Earth to protect her, make her happy, healthy, try for the rest of my life to make her feel the overwhelming amount of love that I have for her. I never knew until that moment in time just how lost I had been before..just how much she had completed me. It was like I had been walking around in a daze missing a piece of my soul...and then I held her and felt whole...felt there...felt right.
So, as we have done every year for the past 8 years...we celebrated Emma today. We had dinner, cake, and presents. I woke her up this morning with balloons and a big teddy bear. I gave her a special breakfast muffin with a candle in it and sang Happy Birthday to her. I held her and hugged her extra hard every chance I got today. I remembered that first night and shared stories with her. I told her how inexperienced I was in the baby department and forgot that you must burp a baby after feeding them that first night...and I spent a good long while trying to figure out why my baby kept getting the hiccups. We held hands as we walked to school. I told her I love her and called her my birthday girl all day. I did everything I possibly could to make her feel special today...to make her feel loved...to make her feel important.
Oh yea....and diabetes was but a mere afterthought....it played nice and remained in the dark corner of my mind today....and I am greatful.

2 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday, Emma!!
    What a sweet, sweet mama you are. I can feel your love for her in this post (and all the others!).
    You make me smile, my friend, and inspire me to put 'things' aside and focus more on my girls every chance I get. Thank you for that!

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  2. What a fun day to be born!!! Happy Birthday Emma!!!

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