You Are My Sunshine

Kristin teaching me how to use Instagram

You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away






According to Pres. O, today my daughter is an adult...she turned 26. Weird thing is, I was 26 when she was born. I had already been married four years, making payments on a home and driving a Honda.  Kristin is single, living near the beach with two friends and drives a Honda. She is living the life I never experienced and I am happy for her. I have no regrets for the path I chose but I think it is neat she is finding her own path.


Kristin was born during a time when pregnancy wasn't sexy. We didn't wear skin-tight shirts to show our belly, get naked pics taken of our glorious changing bodies, or get a sonogram at every doctor appointment. We wore plaid shirts with white collars and lots of other hideous outfits to camouflage the fact that we had sex that caused the pregnancy in the first place. On Saturday morning, May 31, 1986 I went into labor. That day I had a friend's baby shower, a going away party for church friends and a college graduation party to attend and I went to all of them! I must say, by the time I arrived at the last party, people were encouraging me to head to the hospital. At 11 o'clock I agreed and we left. By midnight, I was in active labor and Kristin was born four hours later. I had about 30 visitors that first day. I remember my dad coming in and holding Kristin. My first thought was, "Oh no, my dad now knows I had sex!" Yep, there are some things one just can't hide anymore!


A few days later I decided to take Kristin to the mall. She was four days old. It took me two hours to get her ready and pack everything she might need. I was a nervous wreck. I went with my best friend, Diane, and her little baby, Corey. I'm not sure why I put myself through that but once I had her loaded up in the stroller,  I loved pushing her though the mall. I wanted to yell out, "Hey people, look what I made!" From that day on, Kristin is in love with shopping. As soon as she could talk, her first words in the morning would be, "Where we going today?"...gosh I loved that about her...a girl after my own heart!


Kristin and I had almost four years together before Brian showed up and she was my buddy. Other than being somewhat of a drama queen, she was a joy to have around. Kristin has taught me lots of stuff. Like not everything is funny, how to hug and show love, how to use my iphone, and anything and everything about celebrities. She can do things that I always wished I could...like paint and draw. She is so talented and artistic. She is great with technical stuff and I suck. She is way less judgmental than me. She is way more sensitive and sentimental. She is not afraid to stay by herself and loves scary movies. She is brave. She cries easily and loves really hard. However, we do share some similar traits. She is tall like me and has a love affair with shoes. Food is our vice and laughter is our medicine. We both have a passion for reading but she now reads even more than I do. We love Glee and Ryan Gosling. 


I have always said that we moms love our sons like crazy but one day, they will find love and we will be replaced...not so with daughters. Daughters seem to have plenty of love to go around. Kristin, you are my sunshine. You are lovely and even though you are a part of me, you are not me and for that, I am glad. I am very proud of the human you have become. Happy Birthday!