Just remembering …. <3

I am taking a pass on my usual Wednesday Randoms because if there is one rule I follow on this small space of the internet I call home it is to share what is uppermost on my mind and heart when I sit down to type. 

Today I am remembering this date 34 years ago. 

I was fully and completely nine months pregnant and then some. 

Weighing in at a few pounds heavier than Russ and yet still only 5’ 5 1/2”, I directed movers and friends as we finally were able to get into our new house from the apartment we had been using. 

During the pregnancy Russ had been transferred to Galesburg and back again. We had moved into a house there, a company apartment back here and finally into our new home. 

It was hotter than blazes and I can picture dear friends trying to unpack our kitchen and the bedrooms for the kids, because I was to be induced on the 5th of July. 

That night I sat looking at my feet with wonderment at how swollen they were. 

On the Fourth, we took the girls to the pool. I felt awful, but understandably so with the heat and all. 

Having to always be injected with pitocin and riding that roller coaster, it wasn’t until we got home that I began to piece together that I was actually in real labor. 

I told Russ that I was pretty sure I needed to get to the hospital. His sister was making her way to our house to take care of the girls for the next day and was as surprised as us when she saw my large self descending the stairs, wincing and stopping every other step for contractions. 

She says it is a sight she could never quite erase from her mind. 

Off we went and that night, as the fireworks finished up over the lake outside the hospital window, our doctor arrived through the clogged bridge traffic to deliver our John. 

Thirty-four. Years. Ago. 

I was two years younger than he will be this year. 

I need a moment here. 

God is so good. 

He has blessed us with three wonderful children and all the people they have brought into our lives, hearts and home to love and be loved by have made us rich. 

You all may think the fireworks tomorrow night are just for America’s birthday, but we will once again be celebrating our favorite firecracker, even if we can’t be with him this year. 

Have a blessed and safe Fourth of July <3