Mother for the First Time

Today is a special day for me, and it seems that I have many special days in March; but this one is the day that I became mother for the first time.

It was about 9:00-10:00 PM on March 15, 1976, when a bouncing baby boy, weighing 6 lbs. 12.5 oz., and measuring 19 3/4 inches long, entered our world. We named him Andrew Michael Mills. We were branded with a new title - Parents! I was a Mother!!!

One comedian penned a cute statement, something to the effect that as she left the hospital with her first baby she said, "They are letting me take it home? I don't know beans about babies!" I cannot recall the author's name, but as I think back over my life, I didn't know beans about babies either!!

I often refer to Andrew (he's been Andy for a long, long time....but now he's grown up and wants to be called Andrew...okay, I'll try!) as our guinea pig. Hospitals do not give a manual on how to treat a baby, or they didn't back then! There's a lot of trial and error involved. I just wonder if God laughed out loud as I tried to be a good mother. I think he sent a whole troop of guardian angels into our small apartment, and they earned their keep!! Somehow, definitely with God's help, we made it through.

Anyway, God's been good to us, and today we celebrate Andrew's 35th birthday. Where have the years gone? I remember his birth and first days at home as if they were yesterday.

God bless you, Andrew Michael Mills, our firstborn son and child. You have blessed us much through the years. May God grant you a very Happy Birthday, and many years to come!

Love always,
Your Mother and Friend,
Charlotte