Two Decades Of Wonderful

Monday, October 14, 2013

Two Decades Of Wonderful

Today is a momentous occasion.

Not because it has been twenty years since doctors rudely forced her into the world via induction.

Not simply because her age now starts with a two instead of a one.

And it's not because she has blazed her own trail into this world, giving renewed meaning to the phrase "Small but mighty."

No, today we celebrate her biggest accomplishment to date.

Kendall Sharp has beat teen pregnancy.

(I stress that is HER joke, not mine. Then again, allow me a moment to stand and applaud.)

OK, all kidding aside, it was 20 years ago this morning when Rudy and I entered the Margot Perot building in Dallas to have Kendall induced. Always determined to have her way, she had decided life was quite peachy settled in right on top of my sciatic nerve. No amount of pushing, prodding, manipulating, or begging would make her change position which had resulted in my position being likened to an old man with hips made of pie crust.

The procedure was started, the IV introduced, my water bag given the knitting needle treatment, and my OBGYN left to go back to her office via underground corridor. Her parting words were, "We'll have a baby sometime today."

Well, as soon as Kendall got the pitocin memo she decided, "FINE. You want to play that way? CATCH."

I am forever grateful that my doctor wore Nikes with her scrubs because she surely broke Usain Bolt speed records to get back just in time to CATCH Kendall. Two pushes and that child was out - pissed off and letting the world know about it.

She was also tiny. Undercooked chicken-skin not quite fitting yet tiny. It would take her a few days to fill out her birthday suit, but when she did, she was perfect. This beautiful, tiny creature that still to this day looks like something you want to put on top of a cupcake.

Through the years, Kendall has been...

a swimmer...

an avid reader...

a fashionista...

a wonderful sister...

a fabulous niece...

a funny friend...

someone to look up to...

the unending victim of my Photoshop skills...

and a goofy, integral part of our family.

Kendall is now in her junior year at University of North Texas. Her GPA? 4.0 straight through since setting foot on campus. She is a member of Psi Chi, an ambassador for the college of psychology, in her second year as an intern in a research study, planning for a study trip to Beijing in May, and already thinking ahead to grad school.

For twenty years she has added immeasureably to our family. Joy, frustration, compassion, a sense of humor, and a personality that I believe even she would have to agree can sometimes be insufferable. (Full disclosure: she comes by that honestly. Ahem...) She is a rock. I know that. Rudy knows that. Her sisters know that. If there is crisis, she is steady. If there are tears, she is the shoulder. She is the voice of reason, honesty, and truth.

She is, quite simply, amazing. And for twenty years, I have had the immense honor of being her mom.

Yeah, you could say I am kind of proud of her - All her achievements, and the kind of woman she has grown to be...

And let's not forget, she did beat teen pregnancy...

Happy Birthday, Kenny. I love you.