Don's birthday

18 years ago, today, I held in my arms a tiny little dark-haired boy who had enormous eyes and rosebud lips. I had labored for eight hours, an eternity given his obstinate refusal to turn. The back labor made this delivery an excruciatingly agonizing ordeal. I remember having the soundtrack from Walt Disney's Winnie the Pooh playing mercilessly in my mind..."when I up,  down, touch the ground, puts me in the mood. Up, down, touch the ground, in the mood, for food. I am short, fat, and proud of that..." All because the ungainly months prior to delivery saw me sitting before the VCR with my little Michael for hours without end playing Pooh Bear over and over.

Once little Don was resting in my arms, his brother seemed to have matured immeasurably by comparison. Michael appeared to me so much older than his 20 months. Like, college aged.

 

Fast forward eighteen years:
Today, they are both in the county jail.

I logged on to the jail roster this morning, with my first cup of coffee. I typed in the first few letters of their last name, and KaBoom: my two babies were looking back at me in matching orange scrubs.

I would give a great deal to go back in time. I'd gladly watch Winnie the Pooh, lug around two clingy boys, and weather sleepless nights.

Kiss your kids. If they are driving you nuts today.... being selfish brats....trampling all over your last nerve....costing you your last cent. Kiss them. Thank God they are within your reach, and hold them a little tighter tonight.