Maddie's 18th Birthday

Well, it seems hard to believe, and yet here we are. Madelaine was born now eighteen years ago! One of the greatest pleasures I've had in my life has been watching her develop. As I looked at her soft sleeping figure oh those many years ago, I wondered, as do all parents, I am sure, what she would be like. I wondered about the sound of her voice, and how tall she would be. I also wondered, naturally, whether or not she would be happy, but looking at that little baby, I especially was curious about the physical.

So, she is now a beautiful young woman. She is taller than her mother but not quite as tall as me, and has filled out quite nicely, so to speak, since she was an kid. As she approaches adulthood, she has a good sense of how to dress and carry herself in public, which makes me proud. I think that once she is out on her own, she'll discover a whole new part of herself that is just beginning to emerge.

This coming month will be a busy one for her. Next weekend she will have her 18th B-day celebration with her friends. A limo will come to pick her and three friends up from school and whisk them off to a hotel, where we've gotten them a room. After playing in the pool and relaxing in the sauna and jacuzzi, they'll get room service and stay up watching TV all night long.

That's just the fun part. She also has to finish school and we have to arrange for an apartment in Portland this coming week. But we won't have to think about that till tomorrow!