1.27.2011

"aunt" mary's first-born, mozart, and "aunt" jenny {not necessarily in that order}

dear baby-b,


remember i said yesterday that i had something to tell you about your "aunt" mary?
well, i'll tell you today.
but first, here are some photos i took of  her.
i shot these over my birthday breakfast
{just one day after my 39th birthday...
when you were only five days old in my belly.}

breakfast with mary

mary {four}

mary {three}

mary {one}

though she is not your real aunt,
i'll refer to her as such,
as she is the friend i have known the longest of all of my friends.
she and i met in third grade!
that's more than thirty years ago,
and that practically makes her like a sister to me!
{which would make her your auntie.}


she may look a little bit serious here in the first shot.
but trust me... she is a goof ball!
she loves to laugh {and snort} and have fun!
and she loves life!
{as you can tell from the last shot.}


well, let me get to the point.
today is the birthday of her first-born child.
which is why i waited until today to post about this...
you see, her first-born was very special to her
just as you will be to me.
and when that little girl was born all those years ago,
someone very giving
gave a wonderful gift to my friend mary for her and her daughter.
it was a glider/rocker for the baby nursery.
your aunt mary was so moved and touched by it,
she said to the woman,
"please let me give you something for this..."
the woman insisted on taking nothing from mary for the chair.
but she had one request...
"please, just give this to someone else who will need it some day,
just as i have done for you today."


that was nine years ago.
all these years later,
i'm having you!


well, when i was at your aunt mary's house two days ago
to help her design and plan the remodel of the first floor of her house,
she told me she had something to show me in the basement.
we went down to look at some things
and she led me to believe it was related to the redesign we were discussing.
and part of it was.


but before we returned to the main floor,
she took me to a corner to show me something
and tell me the story behind it... it was that rocking chair.
and she told me that she never knew just who would be that special person
that she would give the chair to in order to keep her promise.
but she said when you came into the picture,
she knew it was you and me that she wanted to give it to.


we've been wanting one of those for you,
and we were probably going to look for a used one
on craig's list or ebay
so that we would have something to rock you in
on sleepless nights when you needed it.
i would have settled for a chair from a stranger.
but how much more special that it came from a dear friend
who used it, not just for her firstborn whose birthday is today,
but for her second child, too.
two super kids i have come to know and love...
i've babysat them
and watched them grow up.
and now i will rock you in the very chair
that she once used to rock her kiddos in.


i got tears in my eyes
when she stood and explained what it meant to her
to be able to give this to me.
little did she ever know
that i would be the one she could give it to after all these years...
and she certainly did not know that morning at breakfast!
yet, you were already forming in my womb.


{by the way, it is thanks to your aunt mary
that i was already taking care of myself and you
before you were conceived,
as she sells very healthy shaklee vitamins...
i was getting all the prenatal care i needed from her!
she also took good care of you during my first trimester...
she bought and sliced up many fruits and veggies
and made batches of homemade soup
and brought them all over for us to eat
so that i would not have to cook,
as i was ultra exhausted, as well as very nauseous,
making it hard to cook and eat nutritionally.}


well, i know you will one day meet your "aunt" mary.
she will most likely come see you in the hospital,
and she will most likely put lotion on my dry feet when she does.
this is her special way to take care of new mommies in the hospital.
i remember distinctly when she did it for another friend that
we had gone to visit together after that friend's first child was born,
and i thought it was so special...
sort of like how Jesus washed the feet of those he came to serve.


and you will also meet her two kiddos.
though they will be quite a bit older than you,
they will love you, i'm sure.
{they are already talking about baby-sitting you
and the eldest, e., has already drawn you a picture for your room.}


and speaking of birthdays,
did you know today was mozart's birthday?
i always remember it, because
a}
i love mozart's music!
b}
it's easy to remember when one of your best friends had a daughter born that day.
and c}
another dear friend of mine has her birthday today!
{i'll get to that in a bit.}


you might have heard mozart all day today.
i had the classical station on, knowing they would most likely
be playing his work throughout the day.
he is not my favorite composer,
but i sure do love to listen to much of what he wrote!


okay, one last thing.
as i mentioned, it is also the birthday of a friend i have known
almost as long as i have known your aunt mary.
in fact your real aunt {auntie angela},
"aunt" mary,
"aunt" jenny {whose birthday it is},
and i
all used to be friends in high school!
we hung out a lot!
well, jenny just came to visit from texas last weekend!
auntie angela, jenny and i
had a wonderful time catching up
and singing {did you hear us?} in three-part harmony.


"aunt" jenny happened to be at our house when you were kicking!
so she was the second person after me to feel it!
even before your own papa!
we had such a nice time of fellowship.
and she was very good to you, as she was so good to me
by taking me out for a nice thai dinner
and delicious breakfast before i had to return her to the airport the next day!


i had so hoped to take some pictures of the three of us...
especially of the two of them... during her visit.
but i never got around to it.
{but here is a photo from the last time she visited.
i did not take it, but i did the processing...
that has to count for something!}

angela, jenny and me {black and white}
{that's auntie angela on the left, then "aunt" jenny, then me.
isn't aunt jenny tall? she stands a good five inches taller than me at 6'1"!}


and i had also hoped to record us singing this time, too!
but that did not end up happening.

so how 'bout the below clips of us singing
from when we got together during her visit before this last one?


{main song}


{ending}

the first clip is the main part of the song.
the second clip is our favorite part... the ending
{which got cut off in the first clip}.
we were a little shaky, but that's okay.


some day, i hope to be able to teach you to sing with others
in three part harmony too!
{well, you would just be singing the one part.
two other peopled will make it three parts with you.}
=)


so here's to special friends
and their children
and their thoughtful gifts
and to beautiful music
and to birthdays of beautiful people.

happy birthday, little e. {mini-mary}.

and jenny.

and mozart!

7 comments:

Beauty 2 Behold said...

Oh my goodness, G! I can't even BEGIN to describe how I feel about your post. Tears, tears and more tears. Some of THE sweetest words anyone has ever said to me (or about me). I love you because you KNOW ME. Not just the good sides either. You know my pains too. The truest of friends.

The blessing I was able to pay forward is as much a gift to me as it is to you. The countless hours I spent rocking babies to sleep (and rocking myself to sleep, which you will understand soon). Moreso, the times I prayed...and prayed...and prayed. It's profound what a piece of furniture can mean. There is no better person on the planet that I would rather give this earthly treasure to...than you. Yeah God for knowing 9 years ago I would be giving it to you & your baby bean. Lord knows, my heart is so full right now, it could burst. {still crying} Thank you for your beautiful and heartfelt words. I will treasure them always. More, I will treasure you & your baby and just cannot wait to be "auntie Mary"! Which by the way, I have another little treasure I cannot wait to give you!

{I love you, and Ang and Jenny so much! What a great group of gals!}

LOVE & HUGS FOREVER...

Mary

georgia b. said...

=)

stacey said...

Oh this is so so sweet. I got a little teary eyed reading it b/c I know how special that rocking chair is. We have nothing special, but I have spent countless hours in that chair with my loves. It is a special place and how SPECIAL that you are able to get this chair from such a dear friend. I love this.

I also loved hearing (and watching) you sing!! Beautiful! It was fun to see you on video instead of just pictures. What a lovely voice you have! I can imagine that sweet baby of yours will love hearing you sing to him or her.

Thank you for your sweet comment on my blog today. The trip was nice, and it's also so nice to be back. Things have been hard after my parent's divorce (they separated the day I found out I was pregnant with Evie and were divorced a year later). But I know that life is SO short and that even though things have been hard I need to take advantage of that time with my dad. I'm so sorry for the loss of yours.

There will be something coming in the mail for you soon, promise. I am searching for specific special something and have yet to find it, but I just wanted you to know it's coming and I haven't forgotten.

Love and hugs, friend!

georgia b. said...

oh, hooray!
i love mail... the old-fashioned kind.
like the new kind, too.
=)

thanks for your thoughts and for reading, stacey.

Sandy K. said...

This was a fabulous post, Georgia. I am enjoying your journey to new motherhood, and all the wonderful things that warm your life. I laughed and cried reading it...and hope you keep the joys inside you forever.

georgia b. said...

thank you, sandy.
i will certainly try.

Alaskangal B said...

So very touching. As well you guys have awesome voices.