Blessing in Pink

Life doesn’t always lead us where we plan. It’s filled with turns, detours, dead-ends, and new paths. When we’re on the road and it leads us in a different direction, we tend to fear what is ahead of us. However, many times those bumps in the road end up being a blessing. I know I’ve had my share of bumps in the road and even a few dead-ends but many times they ended up being the best thing that could have happened. Some of the changes haven’t come without heartache but many have brought happiness and pure joy.

In the spring of 2016, my life took a surprising turn. I learned that my son and his girlfriend were going to have a baby. Talk about a surprise and twist of events! Having a baby is an amazing event.  Regardless of the situation, it represents a new life. It meant that I will support and love the little one throughout his/her entire life. It meant that my heart was filled with love in anticipation of the new life, my grandson or granddaughter.

What will it be? It is unusual today that parents wait until the birth of their baby before learning the gender. After all, you have to get the nursery and layette ready! It’s popular to have gender reveal parties where you gather family and close friends to share in your “reveal”. The couple chose Sunday, August 21, 2016, to be their “Chuggies for Huggies” gender reveal.  What was unique with this reveal was that neither mommy or daddy knew the gender until we all did.  How exciting was that?  As they took the forks to their balloons that they would individually pop, we all held our breath. Boy? Girl? Did anyone really care? Would anyone be disappointed?

POP….out poured tons of hot pink glitter spraying all over mommy, daddy, and big sister. The look on their faces was hard to read. Were they all hoping for a baby boy? Were they disappointed?  Everyone was hollering “awww, a baby girl!”  The room was full of excitement. No one was disappointed, maybe a tad bit in shock but not disappointed. What will daddy do with a baby girl? He is going to teach her how to play soccer, take her to Daddy-Daughter dances, and learn how to braid hair.  Indeed, a beautiful blessing in pink.

36" of Terror

           “Just wait until your father gets home!”  I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard those words growing up.  I would be a millionaire.  Funny thing is, my father did come home but not a word was said about my imperfect behavior that took place that day.  You see, back when I grew up, mothers threatened their children throughout the day but when the father walked through the door, it was daddy’s time to relax after a hard day at work. It was also our time to shine as the perfect children.

          I don’t remember what I had done to deserve that threat and I’m pretty sure that whatever I did was at the instigation of my older brother. After all, he was the tormenter and I was the innocent younger sister. Regardless of what I had done to deserve the threat, I was chased throughout the house with “thirty-six inches of terror”. Those inches happen to be a thick yardstick and I have to admit, I was deathly afraid of getting smacked with it.  The smack never came, however, and after several hundred times of being threatened with it, I finally realized it was just a threat. Whenever I see a thick yardstick, I get a smile on my face.