Proud mother

As a child there was one thing I knew....

I was put on this earth to be.... a mother.

Like most young girls I dreamed of one day being a mommy to my own baby. To fulfill that need as a child I use to dress my black cat, Salt, up in baby clothes. Now before anyone starts screaming animal abuse, please note I would cut a hole into the rear of the Pj's to make room for his tale. I would then cradle Salt until he was asleep, most days he was very accommodating to this scenario but there were other days as soon I called his name and walk towards him he would run from me.

My mother moved us once to a home that actually had a chicken coop on the property. She bought us kids’ baby chickens to raise and take care of, strange thing in the middle of Beaverton but what did I know I was just a kid! Many days after school you would find me out running around the backyard trying to catch as many baby chickens as I could. I would put them into a wheel barrel and roll them around the yard until they fell asleep, my brother's thought I was nuts but those chickens were my babies.

When I was 20, after being married for two years, I found out I was going to have a baby. I will never forget the day I learned my baby was a boy. I was so happy I called everyone I knew to tell them the news and to tell them what the ultrasound picture looked like. I knew from the moment they said he was a boy I was going to call him Michael.

I am not a patient person by nature. So when I was close enough to "be okay to deliver" I started taking God's plan into my own hands. My Grandmother suggested I drink Castor Oil. She swore Castor Oil was the way to induce labor. "Drink a shot of Castor Oil and chase it with a Coke, you will be giving birth by the next morning" she said. The only thing I was doing the next morning, and the morning after that, was going to the bathroom! Soon after that failed attempt I started to bribe my doctor to induce me. At one point I offered to donate $100.00 to the charity of his choice if he would just induce me. My doctor did not take the bribe, but a week later and countless trips with false labor he finally agreed to induce me.

On October 11^th my son came screaming into this world. My favorite memory of that day was when they laid him on my chest, his eyes were wide open and he looked right at me and we made eye contact. He was the most precious creature I had ever seen and I knew he would bring me a lifetime of joy.

My baby is now 16 years old. He is almost a man. He stands 5’6 and weighs 164 lbs and he is the pride of my life. I am so proud of the person he is becoming and so anxious to see the man he will soon be. He is a hard worker, a great son, a wonderful brother to his siblings and he has his dreams set on being a detective. I am so proud of him, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for him and there is nothing I would not give him.

Sometimes I will hear him talking in another part of the house and it will stop me in my tracks. His voice is so much deeper and sounds like there is a stranger in my house, but it comes to me that this is my baby talking. I get flashbacks to him crying in my arms or giggling as I chase him and it makes me smile.

I am so lucky to have the love of a son and so lucky to be on Earth to see him develop into a man who his family is proud of right in front of my eyes.