Ned,
Today is your 21st birthday. I look at you and see your face the first time I held you. You were a beautiful baby and have grown up to be a handsome young man. I remember your Grandma Smith and Great Grandpa Edmund Smith standing in my hospital room discussing all of your attributes that were of course all Smith. When Grandma mentioned that you had your Dad's blue eyes, I had to pipe up. If there is anything about you that I can claim as Etzler, it is your blue eyes that sparkle like the sunshine on Lake Michigan in the summer.
Looking back, your Dad and I thought we were so grown up. But there is nothing like looking into the eyes of your first child, to realize how much you don't know. You were a happy baby and a sunny toddler. People would stop me and say "He should be a model". I remember standing in the line at Cub and a little girl commented on what a beautiful little girl I had. When I told her you were a boy she say "Oh no, not with those beautiful long lashes he can't be.
I should have known when they had to induce me when you were 2 weeks overdue, that you had your own time line. I remember worrying that you would never be potty trained. But one day you said you were ready for big pants and you never had an accident. Reading was hard for you at first, but once you learned to read, you never stopped.
You have brought so much joy to us and our family. We are so proud of you and the man you are becoming. I don't feel like the mother of a 21 year old. When I told that to Grandma Etzler, she said how do you think I feel being the mother of a 52 year old. So I guess it is all relative.
Enjoy your life, trust in God and know that you are greatly loved.
Today is your 21st birthday. I look at you and see your face the first time I held you. You were a beautiful baby and have grown up to be a handsome young man. I remember your Grandma Smith and Great Grandpa Edmund Smith standing in my hospital room discussing all of your attributes that were of course all Smith. When Grandma mentioned that you had your Dad's blue eyes, I had to pipe up. If there is anything about you that I can claim as Etzler, it is your blue eyes that sparkle like the sunshine on Lake Michigan in the summer.
Looking back, your Dad and I thought we were so grown up. But there is nothing like looking into the eyes of your first child, to realize how much you don't know. You were a happy baby and a sunny toddler. People would stop me and say "He should be a model". I remember standing in the line at Cub and a little girl commented on what a beautiful little girl I had. When I told her you were a boy she say "Oh no, not with those beautiful long lashes he can't be.
I should have known when they had to induce me when you were 2 weeks overdue, that you had your own time line. I remember worrying that you would never be potty trained. But one day you said you were ready for big pants and you never had an accident. Reading was hard for you at first, but once you learned to read, you never stopped.
You have brought so much joy to us and our family. We are so proud of you and the man you are becoming. I don't feel like the mother of a 21 year old. When I told that to Grandma Etzler, she said how do you think I feel being the mother of a 52 year old. So I guess it is all relative.
Enjoy your life, trust in God and know that you are greatly loved.
