More Treasures, Reawakened Angst
11:00 AM Posted In adoption , birthdays , family , treasure Edit This 2 Comments »
My baby turned 16 yesterday.
I'm not sure whether she's been kissed yet or not . . . .
She totally looks kissable - which is part of my angst today. She is of dating age now. I have to start letting her out from under my wing a bit. I can set reasonable curfews and I still reserve the right to say "There is no way you will be going there with that boy" if she starts spending time with a real creeper or - worse yet - a charmer.
O.K. we will speak no more about these things. My blood pressure is rising and my jaw is clenched and . . just . . . breathe . . . She's going to the prom next week. Ben is neither a creeper nor a charmer and his mom is at least as much a mama bear as I am. I know that Bry & I are not alone in the safe driving/ responsible behavior/ morality department - at least with this particular date.
So - my title mentions treasures as well as angst.
Obviously my daughter is the first treasure. (Bry' side of the family will recognize Aunt Molly's attitude and features in that photo. We named her well, didn't we?)
The second treasure is extended family.
My cousin, Michael, came up for a visit this weekend and asked if he could take me out to lunch yesterday. We haven't been well connected far many, many years (neither side of my family seems to be good at or comfortable with maintaining tight connections) and I was afraid that he had some sort of horrible news or something that he needed to convey. Instead it was just a very nice fun lunch date. We talked and laughed and I had a great time. When we walked back to work, he took a big box and few bags out of his truck to give to me. They were full of treasure.
My dad and his younger brothers
The box and bags contained pictures of my dad's side of the family spanning the years from when my dad and his siblings were young to when my cousins and I were little. There are some older photos of ancestors that I will need to identify somehow. I also have a big project before me in scanning and distributing all of these wonders to extended family members who may want copies.
The school pictures are my favorites.
My Dad - the fearless older brother.
(With GREAT hair! Why couldn't you have given ME that hair, dad? Why did Adrienne get to have it and not me?)
Uncle Kermit - can you see the mischief in his eyes?
I totally see my nephew, Derek's, features & expressions in there. I love how adorableness genes (and attitude genes) keep cropping up in families.
Uncle Howard - smart and determined.
And Uncle Lynn - the baby, the overlapping generation, child of the 60's - teen of the 70's.
The pictures do awaken some angst - I wanted a house full of blue-eyed, blonde haired boys, too. I'm not sure why. I'm sure I never could have survived it.
Gramma had 4 boys and always wanted a girl - she spoiled me just a bit (in a good way) because I was the first girl baby she really got her hands on.
This boy is pretty cute, though. He brought the expansion pack for our set of adoreableness genes AND he has enough mischief & energy for four.
I feel pretty rich today.
. . . .
I'm not sure whether she's been kissed yet or not . . . .
She totally looks kissable - which is part of my angst today. She is of dating age now. I have to start letting her out from under my wing a bit. I can set reasonable curfews and I still reserve the right to say "There is no way you will be going there with that boy" if she starts spending time with a real creeper or - worse yet - a charmer.
O.K. we will speak no more about these things. My blood pressure is rising and my jaw is clenched and . . just . . . breathe . . . She's going to the prom next week. Ben is neither a creeper nor a charmer and his mom is at least as much a mama bear as I am. I know that Bry & I are not alone in the safe driving/ responsible behavior/ morality department - at least with this particular date.
So - my title mentions treasures as well as angst.
Obviously my daughter is the first treasure. (Bry' side of the family will recognize Aunt Molly's attitude and features in that photo. We named her well, didn't we?)
The second treasure is extended family.
My cousin, Michael, came up for a visit this weekend and asked if he could take me out to lunch yesterday. We haven't been well connected far many, many years (neither side of my family seems to be good at or comfortable with maintaining tight connections) and I was afraid that he had some sort of horrible news or something that he needed to convey. Instead it was just a very nice fun lunch date. We talked and laughed and I had a great time. When we walked back to work, he took a big box and few bags out of his truck to give to me. They were full of treasure.
My dad and his younger brothers
The box and bags contained pictures of my dad's side of the family spanning the years from when my dad and his siblings were young to when my cousins and I were little. There are some older photos of ancestors that I will need to identify somehow. I also have a big project before me in scanning and distributing all of these wonders to extended family members who may want copies.
The school pictures are my favorites.
My Dad - the fearless older brother.
(With GREAT hair! Why couldn't you have given ME that hair, dad? Why did Adrienne get to have it and not me?)
Uncle Kermit - can you see the mischief in his eyes?
I totally see my nephew, Derek's, features & expressions in there. I love how adorableness genes (and attitude genes) keep cropping up in families.
Uncle Howard - smart and determined.
And Uncle Lynn - the baby, the overlapping generation, child of the 60's - teen of the 70's.
The pictures do awaken some angst - I wanted a house full of blue-eyed, blonde haired boys, too. I'm not sure why. I'm sure I never could have survived it.
Gramma had 4 boys and always wanted a girl - she spoiled me just a bit (in a good way) because I was the first girl baby she really got her hands on.
This boy is pretty cute, though. He brought the expansion pack for our set of adoreableness genes AND he has enough mischief & energy for four.
I feel pretty rich today.
. . . .
2 comments:
Attitude? What attitude?
You know - the "I know who I am and what I'm worth and I'm not settling for less under any circumstances" attitude. At least - I hope that's the attitude I'm seeing in here. It could all just be "Mom - you are so lame" attitude. Who can tell with teenagers?
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