Graduating to Parenthood
Or, Gifts You Don't Buy
She will be here soon.
Well . . . she will be here.
We were told walking might help. Forty years ago, while studying for finals and preparing for graduation, we walked the mall and the streets of the old neighborhood. After a false alarm, the hospital attending said, “Not yet.”
I’m not going back home.
Later that day, we returned to the hospital. Patty told me she was not going back home. The next time we leave the hospital, we will be taking her home. Kimberly arrived just fine, if on her own time. Still.
Patty’s doctor was old school. She and Kimberly stayed in the hospital for five days. I stayed on the floor, where textbooks were scattered around. We did get Kimberly home. Somehow, we left the manual at the hospital. Like all parents, we figured it out on the fly, as we went along, hoping that something we picked up from our parents and others would become the elixir just right for her.
She is just right for us—equal parts of her parents. The best parts of her Mom, the stubbornness and quick lip—well, she can blame me.
Daughter. Sister. Wife. Mom. Mama Bear. Small Business Owner. Office Manager. Substitute Teacher. Substitute as Needed. Creative. Yarn Queen. Friend.
Sans any future stories that start with, “I never told you,” we learned as much from Kimberly and Tommie as they may have learned from us. We are grateful for God’s grace. We did not earn what they mean to us.
She will be here soon.
Well . . . she will be here.
Late last night, she texted.
This is hard to watch.
Kimberly was referring to the OKC Thunder's playoff game with the Memphis Grizzlies. Like many in Oklahoma, we love our Thunder and have always favored basketball. By the end of the game, I replied,
Happy Early Birthday, Kimberly!
Today, the best present she could receive would be a specialist giving her a date for a procedure for Cohen. After eight months, appointments and scans, and the anxiety of reading radiology reports for which we are not qualified, today should be the day.
Many of the best birthday presents, even graduation presents, are not bought in stores or online.
Happy Birthday, Kimberly Jo!