My Daughter's Mother's Name is Deb

Deb, my dear friend, my co-parent, my fire pit buddy, my always has a glass of wine ready for me should I need one.  It seems as though we've been friends for a lifetime but in actuality it's only been a rather short period of time.  Junior year of high school - 2005.  (No, not our junior year - our first born children's.) We came into each other lives when I realized that she had given birth to the daughter that I was supposed to have.  So we decided to share.  It helped that her daughter was dating my #1 son's best friend.  When I needed "girl time" Jesse was the one I called upon.  And Deb sweetly handed her over.  It was a mutually beneficial arrangement for both Deb and I.  Jessica was (is) a beautiful girl.  She can be model beautiful, then go in and change cloths, head out to the woods.  Shoot, kill, field dress, haul it back to the truck, load it up, bring it home,  and finally skin the deer.  Then bop back into the kitchen with the tenderloin in hand ready to help cook dinner.

Jesse was always a low drama / no drama girl.  (Well, except for the one very short time in her life that we just refuse to remember - and EVERYONE has a one of those times in their life. Her's could have been much, much, much worse. But when you consider it was Jessica it was bad enough!) She can cut through BS swifter than a hot knife through butter in July.  She is very academic.  A self starter, truly faith filled with a servants heart. (No, that doesn't mean she cater's to people Martin! LOLLOL)  And always succeeds in whatever venture or adventure she begins.  Nothing phased this young women.  Which was a good thing because God chose her to be the oldest of four in her family.  She is followed in birth order by three younger brothers.  Then when you add in our four sons, she is the girl with seven brothers.  It's a touch job, but she has always handled it well.

Here's a for example for you.  The place, baseball field in the heat of summer.  Jesse and our #4 were there with me watching the game.  #4 had just gotten back from the concession stand, his purchase, a giant king size, fresh from the refrigerator Snickers candy bar.  Jesse watched as he carefully unwrapped it, ever so carefully.  After he took his first bite, she leaned in closer and requested a little bite.  Without even a hint of a delay, #4 said, "Sure".  He started to hand it over to her, paused, brought it back to his mouth and proceeded to lick the entire candy bar from bottom to top.  Then handed it back to her. She said, "Thanks" and took an enormous bite.  If only you could have been there to see the look on his face.  She burst out laughing and said, "Before you were a giant butt and licked the candy, I was only going to take a little bite, but when you decided to lick it, I was going to make it worth it.  You can tell you've never had a sister before, nothing gets between a girl and chocolate!" That sealed their relationship......

Jesse integrated very well.  Tennis, dodge ball, basketball - okay here's a good one about basketball. So all the boys, and Jesse, are heading out to play a pick up game of basketball.  I hear them call captains, then I hear one of the Baker Boys call "Shirts".  Followed by Jesse's boyfriend, Ryan, hollering "Yeah, right!  She will not be playing SKINS!!"  Once, during a game of two hand touch football, one of the boys (NOT a Baker!!) got a little handsie with Jessee.  She proceeded to drop him to the ground like a bag of cement.  When Deb and I questioned our sons about why none of them stepped forward to help Jesse, they all laughed and said they would have helped if she needed it but she didn't, she had in all in control!

Jessica found the love of her life.  As fate would have it, she recycled.  Yep, she found that the love of her life was actually the first love of her life.  Poor Jake!  The boys got gumption.  When you can look into the faces of nine men and profess your love for a girl, well, it's gotta be real.  I'm not sure he'll willingly go hiking with his brothers-in-law again, but you can't ever tell.  Over time his memory might diminish.  But that's fodder for a future post. Suffice to say, Jake is a wonderful, talented, smart, hardworking, good looking young man.  (Who know's how to eat!)

My husband is not a very showy or emotional man. (Okay, that's probably one of the biggest understatements I could ever make.)  He did however, make my heart grow three sizes larger when I heard what he told Jessica on her wedding day.  He told her that she looked beautiful and the only thing that could have made it better was if "she had married a Baker Boy".  (Not that that was ever an option - siblings for LIFE!) Deb and I boo-hoo'ed over that one.

As for me, I was bursting with joy watching that girl, my daughter, on her wedding day.  She and Deb made sure that there was a 2nd Momma of the Bride corsage - just for me.  Jessica wore the silver and blue cross (her something borrowed, something blue), Deb lovingly sewed it onto her wedding dress. I bought the cross earlier in the summer in Paris at Notre Dame Cathedral. I wasn't sure why at the time, but I was definitely drawn to it.  I'd like to think that all my future daughters-in-law would like to borrow my blue cross to use as their borrowed or blue.  Jessica loves that she was the FIRST.

I've so enjoyed the path we've walked so far. 

Plus, look at all the many options I have to become a Glam-ma.  

In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy journey....