SWEET SIXTEEN

TATE COLTRANE DEVITO

On My Children's Birthdays...

MY FRIEND Roberta used to make a point of giving 

ME a gift, 

as well as my children.

The gifts were nothing elaborate...Roberta lives simply and close to the heart...

but she would bestow upon one of my Birthday Boys or Girl...a candle

 or a really cool rock...

or maybe an animal carved out of wood...

....and then a little sachet or something sweet to eat for me.

There really was no card, or explanation needed, I knew what she meant...

The Days...the Birthdays are special to both Mother and Child.

Thus this day

August 8

EIGHT EIGHT

was my FIRST BIRTHDAY in a way...

for it is the day...16 years ago, at 1:57 am 

...that I became a Mother.

and all bets were off.

I worked as an Obstetrics Nurse for 13 years

and yet I NEVER stopped being

GOBSMACKED at the phenomenon...

TWO walk in...

THREE (these days often more) walk out.

Baby in body.

Baby in blanket.

It never EVER ceased to AMAZE me.

It happens every day...so you would think I would get used to the notion...

But I never have.

When I see a pregnant woman having her 

FIRST child...and I know what they don't know...

That being pregnant ...and 

being  A Mother 

are about as similar as a Wedding and a Marriage are...

and when I look at them, 

I feel a bit like the person who holds the Oscar results in her hand

 and that I am looking at the winner.

Only I cannot tell them...and even if I did, they would not believe me...

No words.

I have run out of words.

Fast forwarding to

 OUR SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY

and I chuckle at how when my kids were tiny and squeaky

TEENS looked too BIG and a tad scary to me...

Now I know, in my case anyway...that having a 16 year old Boy is a bit

like having a Great Dane Puppy.

Who has grown a 4 whole bodys' bigger in two years and yet

....inside...still chases his tail.

My son Tate 

is everything I could have ever dreamed of in a son...

KIND, Smart, Funny, Sensitive and Motivated...

AND because LIFE 

IS ALL ABOUT BALANCE

and keepin' it Real...

and parenting is a daily Lesson in letting go...

and fending off my biggest FEARS...

the DREAM where I cannot seem to catch the CHILD

 RUNNING into the street of oncoming traffic

and I am standing there frozen...

AND I CAN'T SCREAM

OR FLY.

Parenting is a lesson in FAITH.

The LOVE that came with the package that arrived on EIGHT EIGHT

was nothing I had ever witnessed, but gratefully so

....have continued to experience...

in each and every aspect of my life

and if it is possible...

THAT LOVE has given way to

MORE LOVE

and SO ON AND SO ON AND SO ON.

SO Today we celebrate

My Eldest Son's

SWEET SIXTEEN

and as I sit and try to take IN even one ounce of it all in...

which is about as easy as catching a cloud...

I DO THE ONLY THING I CAN DO

I THANK GOD.