Today is my daughter’s 33rd birthday.  I know she is cringing at the thought of that and so am I!  So today I am running my blog again from last year when she turned 32.  Sentiment is still the same.  I love you Loni bunny!

Enjoy!

Today is my daughter’s birthday.  Each year on this day, February 6, I seem to spend a lot of time thinking about our relationship.  You see my daughter has been more than just a daughter.  Without even knowing it, she was my rock and the one person who got me through some very difficult times, just by being there. It began 32 years ago at 9:48 a.m., on a cold snowy day in Oklahoma City.  Oddly enough, it is a cold and snowy day today too as I head for Dallas to board a plane to go and visit her.  In 1982, I was a scared 22 year old about to become a mother and be responsible for someone else’s life.  I had no idea what to expect and then there she was. She didn’t even come into the world as I had expected.  Every movie and every TV show I had seen where babies had been born, they all came into the world angry and screaming. Not my daughter.  She entered the world quietly with those big blue eyes and little round face.  She was placed into my arms and from that moment, she had my heart and my soul.  Nothing else mattered. She was born 8 months after her dad and I married.  Nothing like finding out one month after your married that you are two months pregnant.  For the record, I don’t recommend it.  Those eight months were difficult.  My marriage was rocky and I wasn’t even sure her dad and I would still be together when she got here.  From the start we were glued at the hip.  Her dad was afraid to do much with her at first.  You know the whole “she might cry” thing, and he certainly wasn’t going to change a diaper.  And you know, he never did.  If I went to the grocery store, she went to the grocery store.  When it was laundry day, I packed her up we went to the laundry mat. Not long after her ninth birthday, her dad and I decided to split up and we moved back to my home town to be near my parents.  I was now a single mother of a 9 year old and a 3 year old.  She took it in stride as we began our new adventure.  She made friends quickly and she loved living in the same town with my parents.  I always say that my dad was kind of like her dad too.  We shared him and he loved it. Three years after my divorce and I met someone and was going to marry him.  She told me I should not marry him and I should have listened to her.  But what does a 12 year old know.  A lot apparently.  The next five years were very difficult for us both.  She was unhappy and I was unhappy.  We refer to that period of time as “that five year period of time we don’t talk about”, and we don’t.  That’s an entire blog in itself.  Maybe someday. When I finally got the guts to get out of the so-called marriage, I got my girl back and we never looked back again.  We have continued to grow closer as we age.  I can absolutely call her my best girl friend in the whole  world. She was even my matron of honor at my wedding to Keith. That one she did approve of, even if I did meet him online. I am blessed that we get to talk on the phone many times a day, we can send pictures and text messages and we have Face Time and when I’m really lucky, I get to see her in person, like today. She is married now with a wonderful little family of her own, 5 year old Max, 2 year old Molly and her wonderful husband Charles.  It was my honor to be with her and Charles in the delivery room for the birth of both Max and Molly, something I will always hold very dear in my heart.  I am blessed to have her as my daughter and I love her more than words can ever say.  She and Charles are going to get away for a few days and I will get to spend three whole days with Max and Molly.  Some interesting blogs could come from this.  We’ll see.  I love you Loni Bunny .