The day my mama was born there was no telling who she would become. The date was October 16th, in a rural town in Indiana, and a newborn baby girl was the eighth child for my grandparents. I suppose when you’re adding a new addition to your family for the eighth time it might feel a bit redundant at that point. There was no way to know that my mother would be anything but run of the mill.
The day my mama was born no one knew she would grow up long and skinny. There was no way to know that she would find her home on just about every athletic field and court available, breaking records in volleyball, dunking over opponents in basketball, and going to State in track. She would graduate high school just to head to Purdue on a volleyball scholarship, at a stunning 6 feet three inches. I bet my grandma would have had a good laugh if the nurse had told her on October 16th, 1963 that her newborn daughter was going to become an All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year. That she would try out for the U.S. Olympic team.
Imagine my grandpa’s surprise if the doctor would have told him that his baby girl was going to meet a farm boy who grew up just a few miles away, get engaged, married, and then have their first child all within a year. I’m sure he would have listened with wide eyes to learn that she was going to have six children with that farm boy, and that they would travel the world together while keeping their roots right there in the Indiana soil. She’d help build a family business that respected the land, gave back to those less fortunate, and created a way for her to raise her children and her dreams.
Yes, on the day my mother was born, October 16th, there were a lot of questions about her future. She was a blank canvas, with an entire life in front of her. Of course, at the rate my mama is going, she still has a whole lot of life in front of her. She’s full of as much potential and promise today as she was back in 1963. I have to believe that if my grandparents were still around they would agree wholeheartedly. And they would be so, so proud of the woman their daughter has become.
Photo Credit: Gail Werner of gailwerner.com
I may not have been there on the day my mother was born, but I’m so glad she was. I’m so happy I now have the opportunity to look back on her life thus far and use it as inspiration for my own. I’m so blessed to be able to call her up right now, anytime, any day of the week, and hear her voice on the other line guiding me down my own path. If it’s anything like hers, it will be a good one.
Love you, mama. Happy Birthday.
XO,
A
P.S. Thank you Aunt Monica for the blast from the past pictures! And to Gail Werner for capturing my mama in her current beauty!
