From that first moment…….the sight of the crown of her head……she changed my life. August 19, 1976. My world was a lot different when Kristen Leigh Van Wagner arrived. Seems like a previous life now. In the military. A Buck Sergeant with high hopes, work to do, and promises to keep. Stationed in Germany. A man about the world and his high school sweetheart explored foreign lands and approached parenthood.
My mind’s eye documented that day well. A trip from K-Town to Frankfurt and back as one soon to be Grandmother arrived for a visit just in the nick of time. The Veteran Grandparents waited at One Maple for the news. Two first time parents moved through the day and the process as if they had a clue. Thirty-Five years ago…..naive felt like grown-up.
Off to the hospital soon after dropping Sally off at the apartment. Plans for natural childbirth, pleas for drugs, sunken Lamaze boats, lots of screaming, and then magic……a pretty typical birth. Kristen arrived and life took on new meaning.
So much has changed. The family bobbed and weaved across the globe with the ups and downs germane to living. Faces moved to other places. Friends made and left and made and kept. Hearts broke and healed as those once new parents replaced the Grandparents and the newborn became wife and parent. Life happened…and I am grateful.
Parents give children life….literally. Yet my daughter gave me life. Everything was better….richer…….sweeter. Walks in the parks. Holidays. Dinner. Bedtime stories. She brought out the kid in me as well as the adult. I became a better person because I loved deeper.
Kristen inspires me. She gets what family means as well as her Aunt Karen does. We need people that understand how important home is. Homemakers. Houses are a’plenty. Homes? We need more. Places where love is really unconditional. Safe houses where our best is expected, our worst is forgiven, and there are cheerleaders as well as coaches. Kristen’s home is like that and her love of family shines well beyond those walls.
Love grows. Love thrives. Loves survives. Love is strong. Thirty-five years ago I learned a whole new level of love when Kristen Leigh Van Wagner Wood was born. She teaches me things about life, love, family, and home even more so today. Thanks for being who you are, Kristen. I love you.
Happy Birthday, Krissy
Love Dad
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