Not Just Any Thursday

Tomorrow isn’t just any Thursday. It’s the day Eva graduates from high school. I’ll be there with a big smile on my face.  I loved her before I met her, and I love her even more now. I couldn’t be prouder.

I wrote the story below for her thirteenth birthday. While going through my blogs as I prepare for another book, I came across it again. Maybe Ruth is offering a little guidance. She won’t be with us in person tomorrow, but her spirit will. She helped pick the pictures for the video and danced to the song with David over twenty-one years ago when David and Lindsay married. Without their union, there’d be no Eva.

Eva “turned” 13 yesterday, and that’s what the day she was born seems like…yesterday.  We all gathered for her birth.  The day was scheduled in advance, so even Uncle Mike could make the trip from California to be on hand like he had two years prior when Brady was born.

Her birth was uneventful.  Everything went as planned.  The smooth transition was made in large part because of her trail blazing brother.  His reluctance to be born, helped everyone plan for Eva’s arrival.  While her birth was relatively uneventful, her life has been nothing but.  She marches to her own drummer, and like I’ve said before, sometimes she’s the whole band.  She’s proven, once again, that parents can have children raised in similar ways that turn out decidedly different.  That’s a good thing.

Eva has a multitude of talents and interests.  She’s a dancer, singer, athlete, explorer, artist, baker, chef, equestrian, shopper, magician, storyteller, and friend.  She does it all and is enjoying her journey.

More important than her talents is her heart.  Her’s is huge.  She’s inciteful and kind way beyond her years.  When I lost my friend, Jim, she sat two seats from me in the funeral home during the service.  As I sobbed, her ten-year-old self reached across and held my hand.  It was just what I needed at just the right time.

When I took her to her riding lesson a few weeks ago, we had a wonderful conversation on our way home.  We were sharing a moment discussing our secret of Uncle Mike’s and Aunt Kate’s baby.  While we spoke, we discussed her future.  She plans to go to college, travel for a year after graduation, get a job, then married, and hopes a set of twin girls are her first born.  The twins should be followed up with single birth boys.  I’ve forgotten the names we discussed, but she’s thought about that too.  She offered up another observation that she’s obviously considered.  “It will be ok if the twins are boys, or a boy and a girl, but I think it would be hard to be the only boy with three sisters.” Me too.

I believe each of our lives is a series of moments.  Some are remembered while others are forgotten as quickly as they occur.  If we’re lucky, we remember more than we forget.  I’ve gathered a few of Eva’s to share with you.

Ruth and I met up with David and his family at Plainwell’s Red Brick Tavern to celebrate Eva’s thirteenth birthday.  That was five and a half years ago.  I gave her a flash drive with the video we had made, and we watched it together just before heading home. I had my computer set up in the back of my SUV, and the six of us gathered around to see it.

What I remember most from that day is when Brady pulled Eva aside after the video ended. He hugged her and whispered something in her ear. I don’t know what he said but I know they have a special bond.  Watching them brought tears to my eyes.

I have a feeling that’s going to happen again tomorrow.