Live your Life and Forget Your Age!

This weekends’ events with some of the family and the title of this post which I received from the Ninja on Facebook definitely warrants comments!

I love my kids!  It has been a blast from the minute that "Mommy" was born.  Now don't get me wrong, it has not been all chocolate cheesecake!  We have had plenty of “down” times but they were overturned by the “up” times.  We have shed many tears, but they were always dried by the smiles and laughter!

I have loved every stage of their lives.  When they were babies, they were so soft and snuggly!  They smelled so sweet (except of course at diaper changing time) and they were so helpless.  You rocked them into the toddler stage and then they began to rock your world.  The learning never stopped!  They absorbed everything they could see, smell, touch, taste and feel.  They constantly tested the limits of their world and yours too.  Everything was a challenge, and you had better be ready to step up to the plate.  Their curiosity and your encouragement makes them into young adults who are not afraid to accept any challenge and to tackle it with all the gusto they can muster.  As a parent you have to let go of the idea of wrapping them in bubble wrap and trust that God is with them and will not leave them, or you, even through the worst of times.

In all honesty, raising them has changed me.  I was not very daring as a child, and certainly would never have tried some of the things I have done with the family.  This grandmother  got in a raft on the Gauley River in West Virginia and tackled Class V Rapids (Those are the BIG ones!).  Okay, the last one of the day actually tackled us!  We hit the rapid and an 18 foot drop which launched our friend and guide, Andrea head over tincup out of the raft.  Apparently, she did not want to go alone, because on the way out, she cannonballed me and wiped “MiniMe” out.  All three of us ended up in the rapids and do you know what?!  My family, worked as a team and got all three of us back in the boat before we finished the rapid.  It was awesome!!!!  Okay, I could do without the bruised ribs and the black eye, but it was awesome!!

Thanks to my gang for teaching me that age doesn’t matter, and for teaching me to live every day to the fullest.  We only go around once in life, and I for one do not want to have many regrets.  What is the next adventure!?