Milestones: Austin is 17!

Seventeen years ago today my life was forever changed -- my son, Austin, came into this world to share this adventure with us. I wonder if other mothers are like me -- I definitely have motherhood-induced memory loss, but my memories of the day my son was born remain vivid and precious. I've shared the story of my labor/delivery and early hours of being a mother with Austin every year until this one -- today he is finishing up a great summer spent training to be a counsellor at a camp he loves and I won't see him until tomorrow. I wonder how it feels to him to be without either of his parents on his birthday? I don't like it - fyi. I doubt it is bothering him as much as it is me.

Austin arrived at 4:07 p.m. at St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver. I still remember what socks I was wearing -- awful choice. Anyway....despite our birthing plan for some reason the Dr. immediately handed Austin to the nurse, who began doing nurse things in, what I believed to be, an unnecessarily rough manner (hormones).... in fact, after reviewing photographic evidence, we see that my mom was the first family member to touch Austin -- just like a kid sticking his finger in the icing on a cake, we see her hand reach up and touch Austin's leg while the nurse is cleaning him up. Very sneaky. My first real meeting with Austin came very late that night, after everyone had gone home and we were alone in a hushed hospital room. I was exhausted (well, I thought I was - later I realized that that was nothing.... but I digress...) Austin was wide awake, very alert and our eyes met - I remember the intense sweetness of that moment as I realized that I knew this little soul and he knew me and somehow we knew that everything was going to be alright because we were together. Then he started crying and I realized I had absolutely no idea what to do with a baby.

Turns out Austin survived his childhood and is an amazing young man. People congratulate his father and I for raising such a great kid, but the reality is that Austin was Austin from the minute he came into this world -- a force to be reckoned with, a strong will and a compassionate person. We are just lucky that we didn't stifle who he is - we got to know him, gave him some guidance and a foundation and watched him shine. I can't wait to see what comes next!!