I have a friend who has a 2 1/2-year-old that is absolutely precious. Her mom and I struck a deal: every day I send her a funny meme, and she sends me a picture of little Faye. I definitely got the better end of the deal.
The other day I realized that I hadn’t really talked to Faye’s mom much - other than our daily text exchange, so I asked how things were going. I asked an honest question not wanting necessarily the perfunctory “fine,“ and she was brave enough to answer honestly. “It’s hard right now.“
I was taken back to when Madi was little, and we were taking care of her and working and doing 100 other things. It seemed like just getting everyone in the car took Herculean effort.
At the time someone quoted that famous line, “The days are long, but the years are short.” I remember at the time, I couldn’t get past the part that said the days are long. Now I see how true it is in its entirety; I’m not sure where all the years went.
When Paul and I first started talking about having kids, the one thing we agreed on was that we didn’t want our child to be born any time between August 1 and October 15 because that was our busiest time for teaching SATs. Twenty - two years ago today (September 20, 2001), right in the middle of the “No Kid Zone,” Madi arrived.
She didn’t make it easy: a week late, 25 hours of labor, and finally a C-section. She didn’t make it easy on the hospital nurses either. Every morning they would kick her out of the nursery because she would wake up all the other babies. They called her the Nursery Rooster. Not much has changed.
I have heard a lot of people speak of themselves or others, as being “an old soul,“ and I know people who are definitely just that. I’ve always said that Madi is brand spanking new and fresh off the factory floor.
My nickname for her was always Sparky. One time she was struggling to do a project where she had to come up with one word to describe herself; I suggested and stand behind, Irrepressible. (Her uncles call her a pitbull, but that’s another story.)
I have to be honest, she may have caused one or two headaches, but she has given us joy and laughter in abundance, so Madi, my birthday wish is for you to always know how loved you are and how proud we are of you.
