Mini Me and Me

Well, 27 years ago, a lot was going on.  I had two children ages almost four and almost two.  Number three was due on her father's birthday and here we were three days after and no baby.  I had worked months on costumes for "Mommy" and "Calvin".  I actually got them to nap for a month by telling them that if they took their naps, I would work on their costumes.  I did not get to see them trick or treat that year because I was in the hospital with "Mini Me". 

She was an adorable baby.  Very quiet and cuddly.  Her older siblings were very rambunctious and squelched her pretty good for a few years.  The day we came home from the hospital, "Calvin" refused to accept the fact that it was a girl.  He kept saying "Him pretty neat, or him crying, mom"  "Mommy" thought she was in charge, and well...the mommy.  "Mini Me"  did not say much as a toddler, but on the occasion she did, it was profound.  Usually something like "No".

Be careful of the quiet ones.  They will challenge you and you had better be prepared for the challenge!  This is the one, who would sneak out of the house when no one was looking.  This is the one who would sneak different clothes in her book bag or have friends bring them to school so she could change when she got there because she knew I wouldn't approve.  This is the one who left home with a freshly scrubbed face which she covered with makeup in the bathroom at school.  This is the one who was "in" to boy friends and popularity.

She was a great athlete!  I loved watching her play basketball and really miss that to this day.  A boy's coach once told me that he could win any championship with four decent players and one son of a b____!  And then said, God I wish "Mini Me" was a boy!  She was tough as nails!  She could stand up to anyone on the basketball court and always did.  At 5'3", I remember a broken clavicle from being slammed into a wall by a 200 pound girl, being clotheslined by a girl who eventually played Division I college basketball, and also breaking her hand and begging me not to tell "Doc". 

She and I butted heads on more than one occasion as she went through high school.  There have only been two times in my life when I was glad to see a child head off to college, and she was the first time!  And after all that we have been through, it is now wonderful to have her as one so dear to my heart as an adult.  We talk about everything.  I spend every day with her children and chuckle when they behave like her or her siblings.  Pay back.  We are the best of friends, and I would not trade one minute of our experiences for anything in the world.  Good and bad, funny and ugly, our life together and apart has brought us closer than I would ever have imagined.  I love you "Mini Me" and I am proud of the woman, wife, mother and nurse that you have become.  Happy Birthday!