My Son the Airman!

My dad, God rest his soul used to have a saying about women and their children... he'd say "Every ole crow thinks her bird is the blackest." He was right... every woman thinks her child is the most beautiful, the smartest most gifted and precious gift that God has ever bestowed upon this earth...

Well in my case it's really true! LOL!! Honestly... my son is precious gift. My daughter is too but I'll talk about her next time... today let's shine the spotlight on Jordan, our 24 year old son.

Jordan was a "surprise." I won't call him an accident because the word "accident" to me is a reflection of something bad, it's an unplanned event with a bad outcome... that is not Jordan. Jordan was an unplanned event that became welcomed and joyous and an event that would change my life forever. A Happy Surprise!

I had always wanted children, I just figured I'd get married and do things in a traditional way.. I should have known that I'm not normally a "traditional" person so why would I start with this? Traditional isn't in my genetic make-up. At 24, I found myself young, single and expecting a child. Not the best of situations but one I became prepared to handle. A situation I decided to make the best of.

From the get-go Jordan wasn't like other children. Most babies are carried 9 months, not Jordan... he had to be carried 10 months. At 9 months he actually did a 180 and became a breech birth baby but then he never turned back around so at 10 months they took him C-Section. To thank me for the warm home I'd given him for 10 months and for all the great nutrition I'd provided he immediately pooped on my best friend when they took him out. Ah... the joys of motherhood start so early in their life....

Jordan was an easy child. He played by himself, entertained himself for hours and really wasn't a problem. Jordan or Jordo as he was to be nicknamed was so much fun, all boy and just curious about everything.

Raising a male child alone is difficult. You have to lay the law down early in their life, teach them who is alpha and make them know that even tho you are female and alone YOU are the boss and that they cannot control you. I did this early in his life and it proved to be a winning tactic. Jordan had boundaries on his bike and as I could trust him, I expanded his boundaries to give him a little more freedom. We lived in a small suburb and everyone knew him from sports so whenever he did anything wrong someone would see him and call me. That kid got away with nothing.

I was an only child and had my parents to care for. I was a late in life baby so Jordan and I found ourselves spending countless hours in hospitals sitting with mom or dad in the emergency rooms or hospital rooms. I'm a caregiver, it's what I do so I thrived when I was needed but Jordan was so great about helping me and he never complained. Jordan spent much of his young life in hospital waiting rooms or running my parents from appt to appt.... he was so patient....

Jordan helped me care for my parents until they both died. My mom passed away in July 1999 and my father in Sept 1999. It was such a difficult year but we held each other up and we made it through the toughest of times. I couldn't have asked for a better helper.

Jordan is now 24 and he's leaving for the Air Force on June 19, 2009. I dont know what I'll do without him around. He's a good kid, he's funny and he's such a part of me that I know that I will feel lost without him but its time to cut his wings and let him fly. I know the Air Force is the best place for him and they are damn lucky to have a man of his calibre. I think it'll be a good fit.

If I could summarize the characteristics that describe Jordan I'd say he's loving, kind, gentle, considerate, respectful, trustworthy, patriotic, dedicated and special... he's just a special young man., I love him more than I can ever tell him, more than he can ever imagine. Jordan is one of the best things Ive ever done right in my life and I am proud to stand beside him as his mother. I hope when he looks back on his life, he forgets the mistakes I made and remembers how much I loved him, how much we struggled but that we made it and rememebers that the bond between us is more than the length of an umbilical cord... .it's infinite.