Dear Ru, Some days, I think your brain runs circles around mine. Sometimes, I’m laughing as I try to keep up. But sometimes, I’m humbled as I hear what you want to be when you grow up. Here are some of your quotables from the past few months. “I want to grow up to be…
Dearest, Every year about this time, it all comes flooding back to me. The reality of how close I came to the loss hits me full force. The loss of you…my then-newlywed husband, my best friend, the father of our then-future children (whom I already knew would have reddish blond curls!). You laugh when I…
Dear Daniel, Wasn’t it just a few days ago that I glanced at the clock in the early hours of the morning and realized it was the 14th of the month, and thus you were 2 months old? How can tomorrow already mark you turning 3 months old? It’s been quite the 3 months, little…
Dearest, Sometimes, I awake in the middle of the night from dreaming of you. I think to myself, I haven’t written Merritt in forever—or called him, or anything! I miss him! And then I remember—I’m married to you! You are sleeping right next to me! It washes over me anew then, as I snuggle up…
Dear Daniel, You’re going bald on the top of your head, you’re developing a double chin, and your baby acne has come out in full force. But you’re starting to coo and even smile a time or two! I’ve had to cut your fingernails three times now and you’re outgrowing some of your newborn outfits. …
Dear Daniel, Your big sisters love you very much. Before you were born, I was getting out some coming-home clothes to pack in the diaper bag, when Ruth finally realized that you were, as she phrased it, “Running around in your tummy without clothes on!” It was quite the revelation to her. As was the…
Dearest Love, You talked to me when I was your sisters’ friend. You treated me normally when we were in those awkward early years of adolescence. You teased me just like you teased your sisters so I could be myself. You were a friend to me when I was a silly, frumpy, opinionated teenager. You…
Dear Little One, Your big sisters are quite fascinated by you and your coming. Ruth has decided that you are “the new baby” and Mary is “the old baby.” I’m not sure what that makes Ruth—probably the old, old baby! The conversations we have about you are many and varied. Ruth loves seeing the little…
Sunday, September 05, 2010 Dear littlest one, On Wednesday I found out for sure that you were growing within me. Apparently the test the previous week had been a false negative, and my rising temperatures were telling the most accurate story after all. When I awoke with yet another high temp, I decided to take…
Dear Littlest One, A week ago Monday, Mommy and Daddy got to see you for the very first time! Mommy was 18 1/2 weeks along on December 6, which meant you were about 16 weeks “old.” Oh the wonders of ultrasound technology! We laughed as the ultrasound tech pretended to count to 5. I knew…
Dear Ru, You’d been wanting to build a snowman for months, ever since you knew snow was coming. You heard me mention something on the phone about getting something finished outside before the snow flew and you were talking about the snow flying. A green snowman was your plan. I had visions of a snowman…
Dearest Fred, Can you believe that today marks 14 years since our families met? We were just-barely-turned 13-year-olds. We had no idea we would be meeting our future spouse that day. But the God-ordained timing of the Riverside Geyser in Yellowstone National Park on September 30, 1996 changed our lives forever. It was three and…
The End.
The End.