Another Milestone...

I sat in the pew of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in the Strip District of Pittsburgh, and watched my youngest daughter walk down the aisle. She was getting married to a wonderful man. I had a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head. First, it was hard to believe that the baby of the family was really getting married. I remembered the day that she was born in Erie, PA. She was the youngest of my nine children, and I knew that this would be my last hurrah being pregnant. I was excited waiting to see wheat my last child would be…a boy or a girl. I already had six boys and two girls at home. My first born son and I spent a lot of time together, before I embarked on my goal of having a dozen kids. Obviously, I opted out of that number. Seriously…nine was enough.

 

But my youngest daughter and I spent the year before she would go to school alone with one another, while everyone else was in school. We hung out together, shopped and I indulged her as if she were my only child. To say that I spoiled her would be accurate. But I was the mother and rank has its privilege. So, if I wanted to buy her a thousand Barbie dolls, lots of books, tons of candy, and a few cool clothes…I did. I also taught her how to be a smart mouth and to speak up and defend herself.  She was my clone and my shadow and my little buddy for that whole year.

 

Then she went off to school with all the rest of her siblings. She was the youngest and everybody picked on her. One brother would hide under her bed and just as she fell asleep, he would jump out and scare her. She was the little sister that her brothers tried to sell for 25 cents. In later years, when she took a trip to Israel, she was offered a camel to get married. Her price indeed increased. In school she played basketball and broke her ankle. She rode horses and landed under one after a jump, and another time went flying off into the railing, leaving a long white skid mark on her black velvet helmet. She was short but managed to find her niche in Crew, where she ended up getting rowing medals. Then it was off to college.

 

Now she was walking down the aisle and would be married, have her own house and embark on having her own children to mold. So, I sat in the pew at St. Stanislaus and wathed my lovely, beautiful baby. She was a full blown adult woman. She was a self-assured woman with her own ideas and now with her married life looming ahead. I silently smiled and wished her all the happiness in the world and for a marriage that would live up to the vows and to the old fairy tale ending…And They Lived Happily Ever After for always and ever!