My Friend Became a Mother

Gratitude Year 9-Day 188: Today, I am grateful for the day my dear friend, Donna, became a mother.(Photos by Epic Vision Photography) 

It is the 30th anniversary of the day my dear friend, Donna, became a mother. I met her through my Jill, when Donna started dating Jill's brother. I remember our delight when we realized it was serious and they tied the marriage knot just a few years after we did. 

Jill had the first baby between us, but Donna and I were pregnant with our first babies together. She was due one month ahead of me. We checked out maternity clothes together (remember those white and red knit pants with the tiny stripes?). We discussed baby things with Jill's expert guidance. We endured a very hot summer pregnant and with newborns that lasted well into September. 

I remember the call that Donna had gone into labor. I was so excited. I was encouraged that if she could do it... I could, too. She was my hero that summer... going first with all of the pregnancy adventures and discomforts, too. She made it all look manageable. Jill and I headed up to the hospital to hold her sweet baby girl, Emma, when she was just 24 hours old. The child in my womb did not leap, but perhaps he should have. After all, I was holding his future wife in my arms.

The day Donna became a mother (and Jeff a father) would have even more meaning down the road, but thirty years ago, we were simply trying to figure out how to parent. 

One of my sweetest memories of those first months was sitting under a tree at the Pumpkin Festival Parade. We are attempting to keep the babies comfortable... and ourselves. Again, Donna managed it all with more grace. Of course, Jill was there to help with anything else we needed when she wasn't chasing a one-year-old Ryan. I was hanging with experienced mothers... one by a year and one with a month more of mothering. Jill's mother, Grandma Darlene, sat with us, thrilled for the new little ones. Yes, the memories are sweet. 

Friends told us the days would be long and the years would be short, and they were right. Not knowing the future, we had no idea that the day Donna became a mother was the same day my first daughter-in-love would be born. I'm not going to lie. Emma was a prayer and a dream in my heart (on my "short list of approved girls"). 

Emma and Chase were the same in some ways and complimentary in others. Two peas in a pod when he wasn't driving her crazy and vice-versa, the way kids and teens do. Their love story didn't happen overnight. It grew and it grew. 

Yes... it is time to celebrate our first daughter's birth! Our first girl, chosen by our oldest son. He made the best choice in wives and his choice gained him amazing in-laws. They love him like their own and he is officially a part of their family, as it should be. 

We celebrate Emma's birthday! She is perfect for Chase. We are grateful for all Donna and Jeff poured into her. They modeled love at home, at church and in the community. 

God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true.  -Psalm 18:30a

Today, I am grateful for the day my dear friend, Donna, became a mother (and Jeff a father) And I am grateful for their first born daughter.