Though I never felt unwanted I did grow up thinking that every parent wanted sons. Boys seemed to be the gold standard for children; a bragging right. From the very first moment that I considered having children until this very day I have always wanted boys. I have been richly blessed with three incredible sons and a backdraft of blessings from them but today we are celebrating and awaiting the arrival of our second grand daughter.
Our grandchildren, Kallie(8), Eli(6), Cash(4) all belong to our oldest son, Angel. They are wildly exciting, talented, sweet, smart, and a bag of chips. I bet every MeMe would say the same about her grandchildren. Today our middle son, Levi, will hold his first child in his big ol' shaking hands for the first time. He will look at her round little face and wonder how life will ever get better than this. It will. Everyday will just get better and better. One day she will smile and his heart will flutter into his throat. She will belly laugh and he won't be able to get to a video camera fast enough! She will cry and he will join her in tears. She will say "dada" and it will sound like choirs of angels. The best things in life are wrapped snuggly in a blanket his Mammie made.
This is a recycled piece I wrote several years ago for a beautiful friend expecting her first daughter. I tweaked it but thought it was worth revisiting for this occasion.
An untraditional bouquet of roses. One blue, one red, one white, one yellow, one pink, one peace...
The blue rose is for the tomboy she will be. For blue jeans and baseball games, mud pies and fireflies; camping trips, fishing trips and squirrel hunting with Daddy. Blue is for cowboy boots, spitting and sitting unlady-like. Blue is for tagging along with your cousins, playing the guitar and catching lizards.
The red rose is for the day that Jesus breaks her heart and she realizes unconditional love and the blood it took to extend it to us. For the first time she will shout AMEN in church, the first time she sings “Jesus loves me”, and for the day that she is baptized. Red is for knowing that Christmas ain’t about Santa Claus.
Pink is for hair bows, Easter dresses, and Prom dresses. It’s for the little pink socks with lace and paten leather shoes and makeup. It’s for hula-hoops, baby dolls, and dotting your “i" with a heart. Pink is for pom-poms, Girl Scout cookies, diaries and lip gloss. Pink is for Scott Baio posters above your bed and giggles and giggles and giggles and giggles.
The Peace Rose is for those teen years. When she’ll say (maybe to herself) “I hate you” because in the moment she thinks everything you do is to make her life horrible. She will cry and you will cry. The peace rose is because you will love her every moment like you do today knowing that one day she’ll understand that special place in your heart that God made just for her. The peace rose is for not changing her curfew or your values, it’s for doing what is hard knowing it will be worth it one day.
White is for wedding gowns and garter belts. For that day when the man she always wanted to marry walks her down the aisle to the man she never dreamed would come along. White is for happy ever after and the generations that have been there.
Yellow is for friends. For that friend that will take up for her on the playground, for the girl that stays up the latest with her at her first sleep over and for the one doesn’t tell that she still wets the bed sometimes. Yellow is for the one friend she’ll tell when she has her first kiss. For the one who knows what her voice sounds like when she’s crying on the phone even when she’s trying to hide it. For the one that can make her laugh and cry at the same time, the one that cherishes the same things and respects the differences. Yellow is for the friend that knows that when you gripe about your mother, you never stopped loving her. Yellow is for friends that love you enough to tell you “It’s not always about you!’
Warm and loving welcome to Darcie Rose.
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