Much Better This Way

Almost two years ago, I left a young woman on my front porch with tears in her eyes.  Bethany was just months post-wedding-cancellation and Alan and I and Davin were moving to Rochester.  As much as I knew it was the right decision for me to follow Alan, it broke my heart to leave my girls.  It seemed unnatural and wrong for us to be moving away from her.  Sure, she was grown and could do fine on her own, but it just wasn't the way I thought things should progress. 

On Sunday, we loaded up a moving van and moved Bethany into an apartment that she will share with a friend.  Ashleigh and Kevin asked me if I was sad.  Although I miss her presence at the house very much, this is the way it is supposed to be.  She is going and spreading her wings (although she did live on her own the whole time we were in NY:-), and this time it feels so much better.  It was much easier to leave her there in the new apartment, ready and excited to make her place her own. 

I miss you baby girl, but am proud of you and excited for this next chapter in your life!!! 

Shopping with Davin

Davin has some money and we have noticed that he is interested in clothes now.  Now Davin has never grown very fast, so his clothes last a long, long, long time:-)  I decided that since he had his own money, it was the perfect time to let him do some shopping and replace some things he has had for many, many years.  I thought this was his time to show his preferences and let him pick out his own clothes. 

I had a few spare hours today, so I told Davin that he had a couple of options.  He could go right after lunch with Bethany and me and look for clothes, or he could wait until after dinner, and go with Bethany and her friend Lexi. (Frankly, the idea of me not being there at all, left me feeling a little like things were totally out of my control.  I have always picked out his clothes!  ;-)  He didn't want to wait.  He wanted to go right away.  So we did. 

We decided to go just to one store where we knew the clothes would fit him.  Not every store has clothes that fit very small waists.  As soon as we got into the store, Davin was very clear.  He wanted the outfit on the mannequin.  And then he wanted the outfit on the next mannequin.  In fact, he only wanted the clothes from the mannequins!  If we showed him something else, he pointed to the mannequins as if saying, (and I realize I take some liberties when I read Davin's expressions;-) "Those clothes are not on the mannequin.  Someone has already come in and made some really good outfits, so why would we mess with that??"  He was just so funny!  Bethany and I were laughing and laughing at this boy who so obviously knew what he liked.  So, we walked through the entire boys' section and looked at every. single. mannequin. 

We gathered up two very spiffy looking outfits and a pair of jeans that are just too cool.  (Also, as a side note, one of the outfits from the mannequin does not match at all.  Between the t-shirt and plaid shirt and pants, none of the pieces have the same colors and yet I have to admit they look cute together.  This was a very big stretch for a mom who really, really likes things to match.)  When we went to pay, I mentioned out loud to Davin that I knew he would want to pay and gave him his money.  The sweet, sweet cashier walked around the counter and took the money from Davin.  She then got the change and walked back around to hand it to him and counted it out for him. 

My boy could hardly go to sleep last night after we picked out his clothes and set them by his bed! 

A Case of Mistaken Identity

We were flying into Chicago's O'Hare Airport to visit Cheney at Wheaton College.  We wanted to get out to visit Cheney at school one more time since he is in his last semester.  Alan, Davin and I were traveling together and we pretty much have our system down to a science.  Alan carried Davin off of the plane for me and placed him in his toxic green wheelchair that was waiting for us at the gate.  Alan walked back onto the plane to get our carry-on luggage while I got Davin situated in his chair. 

I was concentrated on what I was doing with Davin, so wasn't paying close attention to what/who was around me, but do remember that there were lots of people waiting for their gate checked bags and there were a couple of young airline employees in front of us with wheelchairs for other passengers.  I heard two of the young employees talking about one of the Chicago Bear football players.  It caught my attention because this player's name is very close to my son's name.  Just off by one letter.  His name is Devin and he has our same last name.  I remember hearing them talking about what they would do if they saw this football player and that they planned to take a picture with their phone.  I glanced up from what I was doing and saw them using their phones and I am imagining they were looking the player up online so they would recognize him. 

Nothing struck me as odd yet.  I thought how crazy it was that this player was on the same plane with us and I hadn't even heard anything about it.  Then, I finished Davin's seat belt on his chair and looked up and saw one of the empty wheelchairs sitting behind Davin's.  In HUGE letters on the back of the chair it said "HESTER".  OOOOHHHH!!!  The chair was there for Davin!!  The chair was also enormous!!  I looked at the young employees who were still anxiously awaiting the football player's entrance and I broke the news to them.  I told them that my son was Davin Hester, that he had his own chair and that he would definitely not need one quite so big:-)  They said they were sorry.  (I am not sure why.  They did not do something to offend us;-)  They said they could see the resemblance and I said that it made sense since their physiques are so similar.  Ha! 

It cracked me up for the rest of the day.  My Davin weighs a whopping 69 pounds.  I have never paid that much attention to the football player other than to look up when I hear his name, but I am guessing he probably has at least 200 pounds on my boy. 

I told Davin we should have offered to sign autographs while we were there! 

If I'm Late...

If I am late to church or any other meeting please know that...



Davin may have had a hard time eating this morning.  Some days he eats quickly and other days needs a lot more time.  Some days he coughs and coughs while eating and I have to slow way down.  Some days I shed some tears while dealing with this.

Right before leaving, I may have realized that Davin really needed a nebulizer treatment.  It takes time and I can't mess around with him not having one if he needs it. 

Davin may need to be changed (again), except that I didn't realize it until he was already in the car.  I then had to take him out of the car, take him in the house, change him and get him back into the car.

Maybe Davin's breakfast got all over his clothes and I had to change his shirt or pants before heading out the door.  If I had to change his pants, then I may have had to take his MAFOs and shoes off as well.

Even though I look like I have things together, I don't always.  Sometimes I am frazzled.  Sometimes I am overwhelmed.  I like to look like I have things under control.  Know that on the outside, I may be handling things, but on the inside, I may not be.

When you met me and asked me how old my kids are and I answered 19, 21, 25 and 27, that is really very deceiving.  You think I am a parent of all adult children and can easily come and go.  I do not go anywhere very easily and have spent 26 of the last 27 years with a baby in a lot of ways.  As hard as I try to be the parent of adult children because that is the normal progression of things, I have to realize that in many ways, I am not.

Please know that I am still feeding my child every.single.meal that he eats every.single.day.  I will never be able to remind him to eat his breakfast and then be able to walk away and get myself ready. 

I am writing this post more to me than to you:-)