Happy Birthday, Chicken Mama!

Ah yes, I remember the day fondly. Thirty-nine years ago today our little bundle of joy came into this world . . . late. And she's been late for everything since.

Well, perhaps I don't remember the first four hours of that day fondly, or the day before or the day BEFORE that (big baby, long labor), but once we got past 4 a.m. of July 5, 1971, things began to look up.

My little girl (who wore a larger size shoe than I did when she was in third grade) was the easiest baby imaginable. My father used to kid me saying, "Wait until next time when you get a REAL baby. Then you won't have it so easy."

She started sleeping through the whole night when she was three weeks old. She didn't walk until she was 15 months old, but that's because no one ever put her down until then. She was potty trained by the time she was 20 months old. She could read by the time she was 5 but wouldn't admit it because she had it in her head that when she could read herself, no one would read to her.

We lived in Illinois until she was 2 years old, but she made her first trip Up North when she was 3 weeks old and many, many after that before we moved up here. She was such a good car/truck rider sleeping a lot of the time or sitting happily watching the scenery go by. I wish we had kept track of how many miles she logged in that car seat before we made the move to Minnesota the summer she turned two.

She was raised on our homestead without electricity or running water. She remembers being alone a lot of the time but never lonely. She did a fantastic job of entertaining herself which I think has played a large part in her self-reliance as an adult. There's nothing she won't tackle if she decides she wants to do it.

She learned what hard work was all about because it was a part of our daily lifestyle. Her early years were spent with one very large dog, chickens, many goats, horses and a donkey. Her upbringing could have caused her to leave the isolation, the woods and the homesteading life behind but she now lives farther out than we ever did and in a perfect world would have a homestead teeming with gardens full of flowers, herbs and veggies along with a full-blown barn filled with animals.

She's had a rough last year with the changes and upheavals in her life. As I wrote to her in a note this morning, this may not feel like her best birthday ever, but I have a strong feeling that next year, one short year from today, things are going to have changed for her in wonderful ways that she can't even imagine right now. From here on out, everything is going to get better and better. She can do it. She's got the grit, gumption and determination . . . if she can just find some time somewhere/somehow to get rested, relaxed, recharged and caught up on her sleep!

Happy Birthday, Sunshine. We love you!