Birthday Girl

That's Birdie at a whopping 1 day old!

Today my sweet precious Birdie is 23 years old.

I was quite the lucky woman with all four labors/births and Birdie was no exception. From beginning labor tug to ending birth, Birdie's process took all of an hour and a half. That's it. No problem, right? Wrong.

The problem was that the birthing center was an hour and a half away from our house. It was 1988 and there were no midwives around here so we had to travel an hour and a half away to our midwife and the birthing center. By the time I called Hubs and he got home, we had way less than an hour and a half to get there.

And it was rush hour.

As we sped down the interstate at a crawling 10 mph to no movement whatsoever, the time for her arrival became imminent. Hubs may have been really, really close to panic mode. I would have found the whole situation humorous, but I was busy.

We did the only thing we could and pulled into a hospital that we passed along the way. We were rushed into an emergency room and, as the doctor walked by the curtain, he stepped in and 'caught' Birdie. Just in the nick of time took on a whole new meaning for our family.

Birdie's hair used to stick straight up when she was an infant. Our pediatrician, who was the sweetest man, used to laugh and say, "It's no wonder. The hair raising way she was brought into this world!"

That was 23 years ago today and, while she made have arrived with her hair standing on end, she has been the most patient, go with the flow kid of the four.This child has brought us absolutely ZERO difficultly or heartache--well, there was this summer when she moved TWENTY HOURS AWAY to stupid TEXAS for GRAD SCHOOL---but other than that, no heartache at all.

Birdie is our athlete. She played soccer for 8 years and loved every minute of it. Until high school when she disagreed with and refused to participate in the politics that are a part of soccer in our area and quit soccer. It was at this time that she discovered athletic training and became a student trainer all through high school, majored in it in college and then left us to get a master's degree in athletic training in TEXAS which is TWENTY FREAKING HOURS AWAY.

Birdie and DoodleBug

She has a contagious laugh, loves old black and white movies, Frank Sinatra, Elvis and the Beatles, dogs, and sports (especially soccer and football). She is loyal beyond belief to her sisters and has had the same best friend since the age of three. She is independent and has better financial savvy than her dad and I ever had. She drove herself out to Texas after being accepted into a grad program and is the head athletic trainer at a high school out there. She loves decorating for holidays and celebrations. She has the patience of a saint (which she gets from her dad) and is creative in multiple ways. She is strong willed and independent. She never, ever ceases to amaze us.

And so, my wonderful Birdie, it's your 23rd birthday and I am so very, very glad that you were born!

 I'm linking up with FOLLOW FRIDAY 40 AND OVER with JAVA over at NEVER GROWING OLD 

AND FRIDAY FRIEND CONNECT with Jan over at Midlife Parenting