It's My Babys birthday

It's her special day today......

Happy B-Day "Daddy's Little Pooper"

If this doesn't embarrass this girlie girl

nothing will.

 

I say: "Where did 28 years go....

How can this be.......

I still feel like I'm only 25 in my own head."

 

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On to Valentines wishes.

 I love the Book by Carol Lynn Pearson

"What Love Is"

Their first touch was at seventeen when the moon was high and her hair was soft and her skin was warm and her lips were full and her heart beat fast against her chest.

As he looked at her looking at him he had never seen anything so beautiful---And he thought, "Now I know what love is."

Another touch was at twenty-three when the rings were placed, and the sun was high and the church was bright and her gown was lace.

As she looked at him looking at her, his eyes were moist and his voice was soft as he promised to be true forever---And she thought, "Now I know what love is."

Another touch was at twenty-four when they shook hands on the deal they'd struck that he would stop saying when he saw her sneak a cookie, "A moment on the lips, Forever on the hips." And she would stop cutting out Ann Landers' column whenever it talked about what women want of men and just tell him what she needed, for crying out loud.

As she said "I'm sorry," and he said "Forgive me," they held each other tight and laughed---And they thought "Now I know what love is."

Another touch was at twenty-eight when he held her legs from shaking and pressed her back against the pain while her body wrenched and the head appeared. 

As he held his son he looked at her and her hair was wild and her skin was damp and her eyes were closed and he had never seen anything so beautiful-----And he thought, "Now I know what love is."

Another touch was at thirty-four when she kissed the back of his neck and watched him disappear down the hall, one arm holding the child who had been sick all day and the other arm holding the child who had drawn flowers with Magic Marker all over the new kitchen wallpaper after having flushed her earrings 'bye-'bye.

As she sat in the recliner and listened to him sing, "home, home on the range--hey, hush, pardner, the little lady needs quiet," she smiled---and she thought, "Now I know what love is."

Another touch was at forty-two when they gave high fives on that jubilant day when their boy graduated with a 3.8 and got the art department's first prize and  their daughter sang a small solo in the school play and was wearing the costume she'd made all by herself and landed a summer job at Pizza Palace and told them she didn't want to pierce her navel after all. 

"What a father these kids must have!" she said.  "Ah, no," he said, "you should see their mother!"  They hugged----and they thought, "Now I know what love is."

Thousands of touches through the following years in celebration and grief----when she stroked his hair and told him she just knew he'd get another job soon, and cheese sandwiches are her favorite---

when the sunset from the front porch was too lovely to watch alone

when they got that call from the officer in the middle of the night about their son

when she got "employee of the year" after the kids were launched and he e-mailed everyone he knew

when they strolled the beach on Maui after twelve years of putting all their quarters in a row of jars

when their daughter moved back in during her divorce

when they shared the first tomato their first grandchild grew all by herself

when all the children and grandchildren were with them at Thanksgiving and each one had a long list of gratitude's.

Their final touch was at eighty-nine, and her heartbeat rose on the monitor beside her bed as it always did when she heard his walker in the hall.

Her hair was thin and her skin was cold and her lips were dry, but she blew him just a hint of a kiss, which he caught with a hand that shook and pressed it to his cheek where the tear was. 

As he looked at her looking at him silent and smiling, he had never seen anything so beautiful---And they knew that they knew what love is.

Happy Valentine's Day

to all those lovers who

"Know What Love Is."