DaisypathAnniversary Years Ticker

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

And Now He is Eleven!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful 11 year old Evan!

He turned 11 at exactly 2:13 AM. I told him in his birthday card that his birthday always reminds me of what a gift he is to me.

Eleven years ago, as a newly single woman and a single Mom, I should have been terrified at the prospect of raising a child on my own and having two years of college left to finish on top of it. But instead, I was absolutely IN LOVE with my new little man. He was instantly attached to me, and cried whenever I put him down, even when he was only hours old, so I spent the good majority of those first 6 weeks staring into his beautiful face. Having Evan to fight for made the hard work of those first years worth it. Whenever I felt tired, or like I might not make it to my goal of finishing college, I would just need to look at him to find strength.

And now, when our life is much more stable, I am finding new reasons to look at him and find more strength and patience. I know he is not officially a teenager, but boy howdy does the age of 11 bring hormones, mood swings, and tempers. If I had a dollar for every time the phrase "You just don't love me!" or "You are SOOO not fair Mom!" came out of his mouth, I could retire early. And when I am ready to pull my hair out at the complete craziness of his 'tween logic and view on life, I make myself look into his beautiful brown eyes and remember what a gift he is. And sometimes, when I am really in need of patience, I look into his face and remember the tiny little baby that arrived on October 20, 1998 . I see the little one who brought magic to my heart.

Happy Birthday Evan! I hope the next year goes very slowly, because I am not ready for you to grow up.

2 comments:

Christy M. said...

Happy belated birthday, Evan!!

Christy, that is the sweetest post ever. Seriously. You made me cry!! Evan might not realize it right now, but he's the luckiest boy EVER to have you as a mom!

John and Teresa said...

This is so beautiful!! And I will pray with you for the next year and years to go slower because honestly, I remember your post from his 10th birthday like it was last week! SHEESH time flies and it's scary!

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