A red-letter day.

Oh, my.

Norah Grace

I had such a hard, hard time yesterday morning.

I woke up crying, and cried all through the morning. All because my sweet Blackeyed Susan turned eighteen.

When we had six-in-eight-years, then almost ten years later had Susan and then her brother Alvin Fernald, I figured the last two were supposed to go more slowly. So that I could savor each and every day. Well, darn it, time didn't slow down. Susan's childhood went just as quickly as the others.

What a precious privilege it is to be her mother. So many things stored away in my heart that I can remember and laugh or cry over. Even the fight we had the night before her birthday will be softened when next I think of it. (it wasn't a biggie...)

I bought a beautiful card with sappy sentiments (yeah, I cried through the entire card display--possibly not a good time to buy a card, kinda like "don't go to the grocery when you're hungry" sort of thing), and then forgot to give it to her! We watched some trash-tv together (Say Yes to the Dress, Cake Boss, Project Runway) and that evened me out, emotionally. We looked online for fabrics for her prom dress. We had steak-and-mushrooms for her birthday dinner. (She's an expensive girl: her brother MacGuyver always wanted pancakes for his birthday dinner.) We had all the grandkids over to sing Happy Birthday and have a piece of cake. Alvin bought Susan her junk-food trifecta: Flamin' Hot Cheetos, Mountain Dew, and a Reese's pb cup. Her boyfriend bought her two lottery tickets because she was 18--hey, she won 50 cents! Kind of a quiet day, and that was okay for me. I still have to endure graduation!

I'll leave this with the sentiment on the card I did *not* buy:

It's your 18th birthday!

Now you can Vote!

Now you can sign a Contract!

Now you can get Married!

(open)

Looks like you've got a very busy day ahead of you!