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Monday, May 26, 2008
8:04:00 AM PDT
Feeling Happy
Of my mom's three kids, my brother was the first to get married in 1978, followed by me in 1980 and my sister waited a few years and got married in 1989. At that time she was living in the Washington, D.C. area, my brother still in the San Diego area and my family in the Oregon area.
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8:04:00 AM PDT
Feeling Happy
M.O.M. Monday
Of my mom's three kids, my brother was the first to get married in 1978, followed by me in 1980 and my sister waited a few years and got married in 1989. At that time she was living in the Washington, D.C. area, my brother still in the San Diego area and my family in the Oregon area.
Both of my children are adopted, my daughter in 1986, my son in 1989. One day I will write about my daughter, but not today.
My husband and me had started the paperwork for our second adoption in November of 1988, thinking it would take us about the same amount of time it took us to adopt our first (about 15 months). When we heard my sister was going to be married Memorial Day weekend of 1989 and she wanted me to be her matron of honor, my first thought was "I don't want to travel with a newborn across country" so I told my husband "let's slow down the paperwork", thinking that we would not be considered for a baby until all the paperwork was completed and we had been approved to adopt. He agreed.
That February of 1989, I said to my husband "I think we need to finish our paperwork because I think we are holding up God and what he wants to do in our lives". I wasn't walking as close with the Lord as I am now and for some reason, I thought I could actually stop the Lord's timing and will, little did I know. But we still didn't act on getting our paperwork completed.
On March 10, 1989, we got a call from the adoption agency, and although we weren't done with our paperwork, they still considered us for a baby that needed a home and that evening our son came to live with us. And yes, that meant we would be traveling across country about 2 months later for my sister's wedding.
We decided to drive rather than fly so a week before the wedding, we set out in our van with a 3-1/2 year-old, a 2-month-old, my husband and me from Medford, Oregon to the Washington, D.C. area. Our first day we drove 28 hours, reaching Lincoln, Nebraska where we spent the afternoon and night and then the next day drove to our next destination, the town in Pennsylvania where my mom had been born. She was visiting her sisters there and would then come with them to the D.C. area for my sister's wedding.
Surprisingly, it was not as tough as I thought it would be traveling with a 2-month-old. My husband, because of the work he does, was able to get formula samples in pre-made bottles for us and disposable nipples. It was very easy to feed my son and throw away the bottle and all and of course, with disposable diapers, that made it easy too. He had a playpen we used for him to sleep in at hotel rooms and at my aunt's where we stayed one night before we drove to the D.C. area.
The wedding was a success, my sister a beautiful bride, and my mom came back to live with my family in Oregon for about 2-1/2 years. She had retired from her work by then, had been living with another of my aunts in the San Diego area, but my aunt was ready to go back to her family in the Pennsylvania area so my mom asked if she could live with me and my family and I gladly said "yes". She drove back with us from the wedding and for the years she lived with us was an immense help to me, helping to take care of our two kids, helping to clean, helping to cook, being compay to me, etc.
My son was a high maintenance baby, needing to be held a lot. Usually either my mom or me would hold him the majority of the day for the first several months of his life. Sometimes I would be holding him and I would need to take care of something so I would transfer him to my mom. We called this "the (my son's name) shuffle". She so enjoyed helping to raise all of her grandchildren and loved each one of them very much.
In August of 1991, my mom went to live with my sister in the D.C. area to help my sister take care of her baby as at that time my sister would have to go back to work full-time. My mom would stay with my sister and her family until my mom's death in 2006.
Because my sister got married on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, I can never remember the actual date of her anniversary. I think its May 27th?? (am I right sister of mine?). Regardless, I do want to wish you and your wonderful husband a very happy anniversary!
And I do want to thank all the veterans and their families and the men and women serving our country these days and their families for the service to our country. Happy Memorial Day all.
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This entry has 21 comments: (Add your own)
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the baby shuffle...made me smile. :) i'm sure you enjoyed the time you had with your mom and missed her when she left to be with your sister.
gina -
Congratulations on your win I am behind on journals again as you can tell and I loved the pictures and especially the flowers from your sis and I laughed so hard about the treat my chubby gets a treat if he don't eat the fed ex guy they only deliver at dad's now because he scares them too bad ..
hugs
Sherry
http://journals.aol.com/shrbrisc/sherrys-weightloss-journey / -
Hey there! Woah, you got quite the bu-sy life!
-Moon Rider -
You certainly had your hands full betty. It was really good of your mum to help out like that. What a woman. Love Pam xx
5/27/08 7:50 PM
~Rosemary