Happy Birthday Heart!

Her First Step

The Hardest Step With Most Beautiful Bride Ever with a Crybaby Dad

Twenty-nine years ago I spent the longest day of my life awaiting the arrival of my first child.  We were living in Panama at the time when my wife woke me up at 2am telling me it was time to go to the hospital; she’d been having contractions for a little over an hour.  I was supremely nervous, first child and all, so I rushed her to the hospital where we took up residence in the maternity ward.  The concept of having the father in the delivery room was fairly new back then and I wasn’t all that excited about it.  I had always fantasized about pacing in a waiting room like I’d seen in dozens of movies.  Always be careful what you wish for.  The wait did eventually come because after nearly 22 hours of agonizing attempts to deliver our daughter naturally the doctors decided to do an emergency C-Section because my daughter’s fetal heart rate was starting to drop.  I ended up in that fantasized about waiting room with my wife’s mother and I was just about frantic with fear.  A short ten minutes later, just before 11pm they wheeled out my daughter and I was overcome with this profound sense of wonder as I reached out and touched her arm.  My mother in law was amazed at the size of her granddaughter’s feet (first gringo in the family).  We had decided on names ahead of time and when my wife came out shortly thereafter – looking spent but radiant – she proudly asked “Did you see J********?”  Thus started what has been the one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  She’s always hated to go to sleep at night, since starting out as a night owl with her delivery.  She was an absolute miracle and so quickly seized my heart that I was a little bit stunned.  My daughter was a handful as a baby and a young girl. Extremely independent and a bit stubborn – something thankfully we were not able to cure her of. She was always incredibly inquisitive and curious about the world.  Even from her earliest days she would give me this penetrating look, questioning if I was right.  I can still remember her, just having learned to walk, planting herself in front of me and lifting her arms demanding to be picked up.   She formed an early, special bond with my mother, who worshipped the ground she walked on (first female grandchild).  She tormented her brother when he arrived but never wavered in her love for him.  My military career dragged her all over the world which she is very proud of.  Her best friend growing up was Mindy the Cat.  If there ever was a one person cat, it was Mindy, who was miserable to everybody around her except my daughter.  I’ve been surprised throughout my life at her capacity for reaching out and seizing life.  As a teenager in Kentucky she became a fan of Kevin Spacey and arranged a trip for herself to Rhode Island so her favorite aunt and uncle could escort her to NYC to see Spacey on Broadway.  Not only did she sell the adults on the idea but she even managed to meet Spacey after the show, she’s always been a bit dynamic.  She’s figured out she’s a big city gal, going to college in Boston and pursuing her career in New York City.  To me she’ll always be that little girl who crawled up onto my chest in a darkened theater and discovered she loved movies almost as much as I did.  I miss those times but I am so proud of the woman she has become.   Happy birthday Heart – you’ve had mine since 11pm on that long day 29 years ago. 

Helping Me Celebrate MY 29th Birthday!!!!

She's Going to Kill me For this One

Extraordinarily Cute Thankfully Taking After Her Mother

One Day Old!

Always So Inquisitive

Not the Tidiest Eater

See What I Mean?

Always Ready to Help Dad with PT

First Birthday Party

Hawaii Beach Girl

Heart Learning to Cook From Adoring Grandmother

A Music Lover From the Get Go

Always Fashionable

Still Messy

With Her Favorite Aunt Before One of Their Adventures

Stylin at Hawaii's Volcanoes

Little Bit Gangsta

Trying to Figure Out How to Escape

One of Her Favorite Expressions to Delight of Gramma

Halloween

Not Too Impressed by Tomb of the Unknowns

Her First Mobile Halloween

Her First Cold Winter - Still Hates Em

Praying These Pictures Will End Soon

Still Fashionable

Hawaii Birthday With Admiring Brother

Junior High Days

With Her Childhood Mega-Crush JTT
She's Definitely Going to Kill Me

Mindy The Cat - Scary

The Only Person She's Let Close

High School

Dancing with Her Mom

College Graduation Day

In Paris This Year

Keep Praying - I'm Almost Done

With Her Beloved Brother - Now That He Can Defend Himself

You Have to Be Almost Done!

Arms Out to be Held

Happy Birthday Kiddo!  I Love You!

Last One - I Promise!