From My Perspective…

Ten years.

When you say “ten years”, it sounds like such a long time.

Why then, have the last ten years gone by in what feels like a blink of my eyes?

Ten years ago, today, my world changed.

Ten years ago, today, my world turned upside down.

Ten years ago, today, I became a Mother.

Tyson Deane.  Born June 24, 2001.  Born after more hours of labour than I care to remember.  Born to parents who hadn’t planned on him, but were thrilled he chose to join them.

I found out I was pregnant in November.  The same day my own Mother re-married.  That was her wedding gift – I showed her the stick.  We didn’t say anything to anyone else for a few weeks.  We wanted to settle into the idea ourselves.  Like I said, we hadn’t planned on having a baby.  This baby had planned for us.  His plan?  It couldn’t have been more perfect.  We were so happy to welcome him into our lives, it’s hard to believe it wasn’t the plan from the get-go.

I always thought I’d be a pretty good Mom.  I love kids.  I have volunteered with them, taught them, and always wanted to be around them.  I was pretty certain this mothering thing would be a piece of cake.

HA!

As it turned out, other than being pretty good at diapering and cuddling – I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing.  Talk about being thrown into the deep end!  I muddled through, and I think I have succeeded in raising a pretty good kid.

Tyson is…..  funny, smart, cute, loving and talented.  He can paint, sing, and play instruments.  He is good in Karate, and amazing in his new love, Kobudo.  He is one of the most wonderful people I have ever known.  I probably don’t tell him that enough, but I hope that he can feel my amazement whenever I look at him.  It’s amazing to me to realize that Joel and I have created this human being.  We have taught him well, and led by example.

I love him more than my own life.  I love that he looks like me.  I love that he has red hair, and my eyes.  I love that he has such a free and crazy spirit. I love that he is brave enough to be himself.  So many people aren’t.  I love every last bit about him – except the noise he makes while he’s chewing….

I love you Tyson.

I am incredibly proud to be your Mom.

**the first two photos are wonky – I took pictures of framed photos.