March 15, 1997

Weighing in at 4 pounds, 7 ounces and 21” inches long, John William Hooper makes his way into the world at 2:02pm. Just two minutes later, Lucille Reed Hooper makes her debut at 3 pounds and I can’t remember how many ounces and only 20” in length. Of course, John had to come first ~ I am sure he was pushing and shoving his sister out of the way as he always has to be first and always has to win.

It truly is impossible for me to think that it has been 20 years. So many women say the happiest day of their life was the day their children were born. For me, it was the scariest day of my life. I had such a hard time getting pregnant, had a very high-risk pregnancy, was on bed rest for a month and in the hospital for two weeks before my babies were born. So March 15, 1997 was a tough day. They try to prepare you in the hospital. They take you to the NICU to see babies who are born at 30 or 32 weeks. But in my head, I had this vision that I would give birth and they would lay the baby on my chest and it would be just like in the movies …  I had a C-section and was draped on a table and was pretty much “three sheets to the wind with medication.” When John came out, the nurse brought him to me and put his cheek to my cheek before taking him out of the room. When Lucy came out, the room was silent and they whisked her away and I never saw her. They asked Bill if he wanted to be with the nurses as they tended to my babies and soon he was gone and there I was ~ pretty much alone.

That night, I was heavily medicated and in and out of sleep. My mom and Bill had gone home. A nurse came into my room and she was surprised that I was still awake. I said to her ~ “I can’t sleep because I never got to see my daughter today.” They wouldn’t let me get out of bed until the morning and it was impossible to get my bed in the NICU.

The nurse left and about 15 minutes later, she came back with two Polaroid photos of my babies. I put the photos under my pillow and went to sleep.

My babies were born on a Saturday afternoon and I never got to hold them until Monday night. That is a very long wait for a new mom.

Twenty years later and here we are …

It has been an amazing journey full of joy, fear, happiness, challenges, good times and not so good times, victories, defeats, heartbreaks, success, kindness, anger and always, love.

As a mom, you travel through the years with your kids and you try to be open-minded, understanding, loving, supportive and kind. And we all have our moments that we treasure – those meaningful times that warm your heart and make you know exactly who you child is.

For my sweet Lucy ~ my favorites are how she always marched to a different drummer from the time she was 4 years old and would put on shows for us every night. Her kind heart developed very early, as she was always so loving and accepting. One day as I was driving her to Green Valley, she looked at me and said, “Mommy ~ was your first real kiss on the day that you married Daddy at your wedding?’ Oh my, the innocence in that question and the memory that is etched in my heart. Many years and many memories later, Lucy went on her first mission trip with Sierra Service Project and in my heart, I think that was such a turning point for her. She came back absolutely glowing about the life changing week she had – sleeping under the stars and working on an Indian reservation and knowing that her mission in life is to help others. The world needs more people like her.

For my wonderful, emotional John, I have always loved how he wears his heart on his sleeve; how he shows emotion and feels things deeply. When John was 10, we had a really fun Little League season with our team, the Giants. It was a great group of families and we made many new friends. There were lots of team parties and dinners. They lost in the championship game to the Red Sox but we all still went out to celebrate the great season. That night, he was in the shower and I could hear him sobbing. When he came out, I said, “John you shouldn’t feel sad because you lost. You should feel proud of the game you played.” He looked at me and said, “I’m not crying because we lost, I’m crying because it’s over.” He has always appreciated the passage of time and at the end of every football and baseball season, there were tears.

So today I want to say ….

Happy Birthday to my babies, to my twins, to my toddlers, to my teenagers, to my baseball player, to my equestrian, to my sweet girl, to my amazing boy, to my modern day hippie, to my emotional son, to my beautiful young adults. I love you and am always so proud of you.

The Best is yet to come for both of you.