Happy Birthday to Schyuler and Alexandra

Special Days. In a family as big as ours, we have birthdays come around often. Yesterday was Schyuler's birthday. Schyuler turned thirteen. We have yet another teen grandchild. I am reminded of how Schyuler came into the world. Schyuler is the son of our eldest son, John. John's cousin was getting married in Wisconsin and had asked John to sing some duets with his youngest sister during the wedding ceremony. Because Schyuler's mom was much pregnant but not yet due, she stayed back at home with their little boy. At that time, John's family lived in our town. On Saturday morning, the phone rang in my brother's home where we were all staying in Wisconsin. The call was for me. When I answered, it was Schyuler's mom, Kim, saying she thought she was going into labor a little early but felt there would be time to get John home after the wedding. Her instruction was not to tell John because she wanted him to fulfill his responsibility at the wedding without being concerned about her. That was a big dilemna for me. I went along with her desire and didn't tell John until the ceremony was complete. When I told him, his eyes were filled with shocked fear that he was missing a very important occasion in his life. I told him I would ride with him so off we flew back home not even caring that we would miss the wedding reception. When we arrived at the hospital, we learned that Schyuler hadn't waited for his daddy's arrival. He was snug as a bug in a rug in the bassinet we were peering at through the nursery window. I know John was disappointed and elated all at one time. Kim seemed to have weathered the storm well and wasn't bitter, just relieved it was all over. Kim's mother had made an emergency trip from Michigan, only about an hour's trip and had been her coach through the birth. I will always feel somewhat responsible that John missed Schyuler's birth. If I had to do it all over again, I may have gone against Kim's wishes and gone home immediately. Those are difficult decisions to make.

Today is Alexandra's fourteenth birthday. Her arrival into this world was one to remember also. Alex is our daughter, Laura's, first born. Elton and Lauri lived in Omaha then so that Elton could finish some of his pharmacy training. When Lauri thought she was going into labor, she called me. Because it was summer and I wasn't in school, I had the privilege of dropping all else and driving there. Omaha is a long way from here. I think I had one of our first cell phones then and recall checking in with her every hour or so. (That phone bill was astronomical) When I got there, the labor had stopped and we sat looking at each other waiting for some progress. We slept well that night and attended a gazillion garage sales the next day in hopes that all the exercise would hurry things up. Eventually, labor did kick in and off to the hospital we went. I had only been in attendance at one birth to that point. John and Kim had asked me to be present when their eldest, Jacob was born. That was a good experience because everything went well. As time went on this night of birth was not going well. There were no major complications and Alex was never in danger but Lauri suffered and I was miserable watching. The doctor didn't seem to know or care how to help her. He eventually allowed her to rip from stem to stern. It was a very messy birth and I have not cared to be present during our grandchildren's births since then. I remember looking into the bassinet at Alex being so grateful she had finally arrived and then being so grateful they had been able to put my daughter back together. It took Lauri a very long time to heal from that birth, yet she was brave enough to give birth three more times. Thankfully, she didn't have trouble in the latter deliveries.

Happy birthday to two wonderful grandchildren.