Elizabeth is graduating!

Elizabeth will graduate from preschool next week and I am tearful already. It will be an emotional day for me, not so much because my baby is growing up, (she does still fit nicely on my hip), but because I nearly died from complications following her birth. Every milestone my kids achieve, especially Elizabeth's, is marked by joyful tears and thankfulness that I am there to be a part of it .

I do not really talk much about what happened when Elizabeth was born because people sometimes seem overcome with an awkwardness or they do not know what to say. I don't mind but would like to tell them what a gift it is to be given a second chance and how different the world is for me now.

On graduation day I won't argue with Elizabeth over what to wear or what to put in her hair or how clean her fingernails are. It doesn't really matter. I will be the Mom with tissues in hand, just thankful that Elizabeth has someone there. Someone who has been there to hug and to coax, to discipline and teach, to encourage, to marvel, to give, and most of all to receive. Someone who knows her better than anyone and loves her even more.