Jenny's birthday

Today is my daughter's birthday.

Jim and I lived in a contemporary house with a red door in Tallahassee. Actually, it was a lot like the house Jane and I live in now in Sherwood Forest. I woke Jim about two in the morning and we went to the hospital. I don't remember much about after we got there. This was a few years before natural childbirth or anything close to it came back on the scene.

Mama Deer and Daddy Buck were staying somewhere on the west coast of Florida where he was working then. She had come down to stay with him and wait for the baby to arrive. Jim called them early in the morning and they got to the hospital a few hours after we did. So they were there with Daddy all day, waiting for you.

The next thing I remember, I woke up, back in my room, and it was late afternoon, the August Florida sun was coming through the window. Everybody was there, waiting for me to wake up. Jim and Mama and Daddy. When I woke up Jim said, Hey Sugar, we've got a little girl, she's so pretty. Mama went to get the nurse to bring you to me, and she and Daddy left for awhile so your Daddy and I could be alone with you.

When the nurse put you in my arms, I was surprised at how well developed you looked and felt. You didn't have that tiny squishy body and wrinkled red face that lots of new babies have. You looked beautiful and fresh, and when your eyes rested on my face they seemed intelligent and wise. Your little hands waved around in the air, and when your dad touched your hand with his finger, your tiny fingers wrapped around it, and you seemed to like that, which delighted him and made us laugh.

A little later, Mama and Daddy came back in, and they took turns holding you. You were their first grandchild, they could hardly contain themselves they were so happy. Then I held you again, I still couldn't believe you were actually here and in my arms, not my belly. In a way you still felt like part of me, like we were connected.

I guess every family has its stories about the birth of each child, and this is the way I remember yours. I wish I could remember more details, but I was still pretty foggy. But I remember the sheer delight of your grandparents, and your dad's bursting happiness and pride, and the way you felt warm and alive and beautiful in my arms, and those bright, knowing eyes.

When the nurse came and said it was time to take you back to the nursery, your dad said, I'll take her. He took you from me and stood at the door and waved your little baby hand bye bye to me. What a sight that was, he was so big, your tiny head under his chin. He held you like a delicate precious surprise.

Which you were, and are.

Happy Birthday my darling Jenny. My love and joy in you keeps growing all the time.
Mother