At this time 29 years ago I was labouring to give birth to Miles - yep today is his birthday - he was officially 'hatched' - had a c-section - at 12:01 p.m. on May 14, 1982.  This began one of the 'best' adventures in my life.  I am so truly blessed, honoured, lucky, fortunate, etc., etc., to have been 'chosen' to be his parent.  I do believe he got the short end of the stick in this choice - but hey it was his choice to make and I am so glad he did.  We certainly had our ups and downs - but mostly I remember the ups - he was a great kid - learned quickly - well most of the time - he was a relatively easy baby - made being a mom quite 'easy'.  He liked to sleep - never had to fight with him about going to sleep - he would fall asleep anywhere - I remember one time we were visiting my maternal grandparents - I put him to sleep on the floor - he was not very old - I don't think he was six months yet - but I knew not to put him on a bed - so I placed him on a blanket on the floor - went to check on him and there he was - GONE - he had skooted under the bed and he was peacefully sleeping - at Laverne's - his long time sitter - she would find him sacked out on the stairs or on the kitchen floor - always had his blanket with him - he did not have a specific blanket - but he always had a 'receiving' blanket to snuggle up with. 

He has always had a very tender heart - although he tries to 'bury' it - I remember we went to visit my sister Marian - she was going through a divorce and was pregnant - we found her in tears - and he just climbed up into her lap - wrapped his chubby little arms around her neck and told her he loved her and it would be all right - he was not yet four.  His curiosity was just what was needed - we all need to see the world the eyes of a child - brings us back to 'reality'.

Along with his tender heart is a very strong streak of stubbornness - I remember him sitting with my dad for ages and my dad trying to get his to say Dog - Gog - he would be on my dad's knees and my dad would say duck - Miles would parrot back duck - then door - back would come door - working their way through quite a list of words that began with D - and then dad would say Dog and back would come Gog - OMG - what a hoot.  There were certainly times his stubbornness stood him in good stead and other times I sure do wish he had been a little more 'maleable' - but looking back I am grateful that he was stubborn and did not 'follow' others - kept him out of a lot of trouble.  Although I am sure he got into more than his fair share - a lot of which I doubt I will ever know about.

Fast forward to 1992 - when I 'met' missionaries from the LDS church - after quite some time of teaching I took the challenge to be baptized - told Miles I was going to be baptized - I had always met with the missionaries when he was not around - and he informed me that I was not being baptized without him - so for the following couple of weeks it seemed as if the missionaries lived at our house - I had to have the remaining three discussions and Miles had to have all six of them - we were baptized together in October 1992.  In May 2001 he left on his mission - one of my online friends asked me at this time why Miles had joined the church - and you know I had never given it a thought.  I then asked him when he was in the airport in Denver on his way to Houston - and was informed that he had been praying for years for the missionaries to come and find us - WOW - so it was all his 'fault' - amazing testament to the power of prayer.

He served an honourable mission and when he came back we had some bumpy times - choices I had made led to a rift.  A rift that broke my heart - but thank God it is being repaired.  I can feel the distance drifting away - this past February when I ended up staying with him and Shani - it felt almost 'normal' - was great.

He married a wonderful young lady - Shani Ellison - am so grateful that she joined our somewhat 'strange' family - she and Miles make a great team - it is heartwarming to see them together - they have what I 'wanted'.  Now they are on the verge of a new journey - this coming August/September they will begin the journey of becoming parents to twins - I can't wait to watch them grow and adjust to this new role.  I have no fear that Miles will be an awesome father - as he is an awesome (but not perfect) husband - he worries that he does not have a role model - the flip side is that he has had no bad examples to work through - he has a clean slate - he can chart his own course as a father - his children are so fortunate to have 'chosen' this family to come to.

So, Happy Birthday my baby boy - you will always be my baby - and I will always be 'emotional' about you - it is with great delight that I prepare to watch you as you start on this new journey.  All the best - and I love you the most.