twenty one
07.3.2012 
Twenty one years ago today in the wee hours of the morning, I gave Matt the elbow and woke him up to fatherhood. This is the part he had been preparing for, the drive to the hospital with me in labor. He ran every red light and drove like Mario Andretti.
Many hours later our first son entered the world, and our lives changed forever.
The firsttime I saw his face blazes in my memory. Although breathtaking and beautiful, his color was grayish. His first APGAR score was 2. A score below 3 requires medical attention. The nurses and doctors hovered over him for more time than I liked. By 5 minutes his score raised to 7. Miracle.
They brought him to me. A bundle of blanket and love. Too quickly Matt took him for the famous walk to the nursery through the waiting room of desperate grandparents and even a great grandmother.
After they sewed me up, they wheeled me through the nursery so I could see him again. He was in the NICU and my time with him was limited. They put a hallway a mile long between us. The first time I stood up after the cesarean, I cried. But pain was not to keep me from him and I walked that hall so that I could hold him.
His first word: ball. His first bike ride. His first loose tooth. His first broken heart.
When he was ten, we moved to Costa Rica. He fell on a nail at the playground after we had been there only six weeks. The nail stuck in his knee, deep. Someone took us to the hospital recommended to us by the language school we attended. The doctor spoke no English. I spoke no Spanish. He came at Matthew’s knee with a needle. And even though I kept yelling, he did not stop. Body language speaks every time and I got between that crazy doctor and the needle. “You don’t do anything before you tell me what you are doing,” I said to deaf ears.
They call it a Mama Bear for a reason.
Mothers fight. Mothers fight for their children. Mothers fight for their children on their knees.
Today he turns 21. He is a man. He is a man I am proud to know. His heart, his character, his sense of humor: all of this I love.
This morning I woke up before anyone else and sat with silence and a full heart. I remembered. Moments packed in a full life. Pearls strung together on a priceless necklace called motherhood. My heart overflows with gratitude and joy streams from my eyes.
31. 21 years of Matthew
1000 gifts, Matthew, parenthood
Reader Comments (2)
How proud I am of Matthew and of you and of you all. God has showered many a blessings on you and weaved a beautiful tapestry that is your life! I love you.
Thank you, Rose. I am glad you have a front row seat and have been a friend who has stuck closely. Love you!