Happy Birthday Lauren

Time has a way of moving like cold molasses on a frosty morning or zooming by so fast that it takes your breath away. This is entirely dependent upon whether you are waiting in the express line holding a package of gum while some illiterate nitwit (they put those signs with the "10 items or less" up there for a reason!) with an overflowing cart jumps in front of you or you are spending time with someone you love and that time that is so precious you try desperately to memorize every single detail.
Today is my daughter’s birthday. She (perhaps I should say "we") survived the teen years. I close my eyes and I can smell the sweet scent of her impossibly soft skin when they placed her in my arms for the first time. She was not a "little" bundle of joy. My lovely little girl entered this world at a whopping 10lbs 2oz. The doctor was stunned. "Suzanne, had we known, even had an inkling that she was going to weigh so much we would NEVER have allowed you to have her naturally. It is too big a risk." The fact that I was swollen to my eyeballs and literally waddled might have been a clue but what do I know? I am glad they didn’t have a clue. It was the easiest labor and delivery of all. Twenty minutes after I "rolled" my way into the hospital I was being introduced to my daughter.
Other than being so huge that I lived in fear of a whale rescue team  appearing at any moment I enjoyed that pregnancy more than any of the others. I wasn’t sick. There were not emergency visits to the hospital for pre-term labor. I never fainted in public, not even once. I think the fact that I stayed pregnant into the second trimester and then beyond after losing two babies made the whole experience that much sweeter.
My baby girl was beautiful. She slowly grew into an energetic little ball of fire with hair so blond and eyes so blue that she reminds me of a Nordic princess. Everyone asks how two people with dark brown hair could end up with this little "Swiss Miss". My husband just shrugs and says "Special order". It’s true. I was afraid of trying for another baby, afraid of the heartbreak of losing another one. When we got the results of the pregnancy test my husband told me that everything was going to be alright, that he had put in a special request for a healthy baby girl. He never wavered in his belief. I wasn’t even allowed to choose a name for a little boy as in his mind there was no need. Our baby’s name would be "Lauren", no discussion.
Those blue eyes have gotten her out of more than her fair share of sticky situations, especially with her daddy. She knows she has him wrapped around her finger, which is as it should be. There have been times when she tested this and realized that batting those baby blues is not always  enough.
I have watched her grow and change like quick silver. She has a moral compass that seems set in concrete. If something is wrong, she says so. She knows what she will tolerate and what she won’t. I love the fact that she is always looking out for the "underdog". Her capacity for compassion and sensitivity are boundless. Babies are drawn to her, as if by invisible strings. It is a mutual admiration society.
She is no angel. As her mother I am allowed to say that. Unfortunately she inherited the devil’s own temper. We have no idea how this happened as I am still in full possession of mine. She has no patience in traffic. (Again, where does she get this stuff?) Her tolerance for stupidity is such that it might as well be nonexistent.
After her experience with a "psycho" in high school Lauren is extremely selective about those that she allows into her inner circle. At the first hint of obsessive behavior or irrational anger, she writes them off her list and vanishes so quickly that there is only a cartoon like puff of smoke to prove that she was ever there. I admire her resolve and strength of character. The man that she chooses will be something special. If he manages to get past Lauren’s screening process and then her daddy’s the guy will be lucky to be alive! Idiots and control freaks need not apply.
She is intelligent and witty. I love her because she is my daughter. I like her because of the person she is. We have fun together. Our tastes in music, movies and what makes a man unforgettable tend to mirror one another, for the most part. She still doesn’t understand why Gerard Butler makes me forget my name and I have no idea what she sees in these slightly anemic, anorexic "boys" that are all the rage. I cannot abide "Rap" and she doesn’t care for AC/DC (OMG?!?) but we have enough in common that a road trip is fun.
Twenty years  depending on how you say it can seem like an eternity or a blink of the eye. One minute she is wrapped in a pink blanket sleeping soundly on her PeePaw’s chest and the next she is helping to rebuild houses in New Orleans and half way through her college years. The tears, drama and growing pains were worth it. She is an amazing young woman. I am so proud of her.
Happy Birthday Lauren. I love you. I am humbled and thrilled that I was chosen to be your mother. The world is out there waiting. Go set it on its ear!