Flowers For My Daughter

All the excitement of my trip goes on the back burner today as I celebrate the birth of my second child, my daughter Jennifer Lynne. In the garden that is my life, two extraordinary flowers bloomed. I am blessed to have a handsome son and a beautiful daughter.

38 years go, I asked my sister Susan to baby sit my little red headed Bob. I knew I was going to go to the hospital that night. It was Susan's birthday and she was excited that the baby was going to be born on "her" special day. At midnight she finally got disgusted and went to bed. I left for the hospital not long after.

Jennifer has become a beautiful, successful woman, someone I have grown to admire and regard with tremendous pride. All parents hope that their children are successful in this world, but how do we measure success? To me success is not so much what we acquire as it is what we are, what we bring to the world, and how we help others succeed and grow. My child is a gifted teacher who has found her niche helping children discover the desire to learn. It is more than memorizing and writing; it is instilling a deep hunger for learning that ignites a fire within a young mind.

As a parent, I have made many mistakes, but I never regret anything for I truly believe that we learn some of our most valuable lessons from the mistakes we make along our journey. I am not a perfect person by any stretch of the imagination. I also am a firm believer in "it takes a village" to raise a well rounded, happy, well adjusted and successful child in today's world. Coming from a large family, as I do, and again, being the "luckiest woman I know," I had a lot of valuable help in this department. Bob and Jenny were surrounded by lots of love and a great family from the minute they were born. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to my extended family for all the love and support they have given me throughout my life.

It isn't easy to tend our garden and produce the most beautiful flowers.....not without lots of hard work and lots of helping hands.

Happy Birthday Jennifer Lynne♥