A New Adult at Our House

I'm having to adjust to a new dimension of my life's journey -- C has turned 18. The world out there is beginning to treat her as an adult. She isn't fully prepared to accept that role; nor am I. She will always be 'my' little girl. Even at FHE tonight I noticed how she shines when she is adult-like. I can't help but believe that the world is a far better place because she is in it.

Still, I can't comprehend how 18 whole years have gone by since that night I sat with her mother in the hospital before her 7:54 a.m. birth.

From the very beginning, I have known beyond a shadow of a doubt that she came from the presence of Heavenly Father. My mother was old -- oh, 86 I guess. She was losing it. Couldn't remember a lot of things including to eat. Our family got together often at Mom's. I noticed Mom and I noticed the brand-new C. Mom was leaving earth life piece by piece. C. was coming to earth life piece by piece. Seeing both of them together I couldn't miss this beautiful picture of the Plan of Salvation. The one was forgetting and the veil was becoming thinner and I am sure that she was able to see glimpses of the other side but not be able to tell anyone about it. The other one, I was sure had just come from His presence and I believed that the veil had not yet been drawn completely and she didn't yet have a clue how to talk about it. I felt the Father loved his children so much that he would allow them to remember at first and as they learned and grew, they would slowly forget and be allowed to have comfort from both sides of the veil for a short while. Seeing the two of them -- my mother and my granddaughter -- I was convinced that this was how it was.

This is why C has always been special to me; I knew from where she came. Perhaps our entire life will seem like a blink of an eye when we return to where we came from; but here, and now, it seems so much longer. And so much more mysterious -- where did those 18 years go? How does one grow from a baby to an adult and we don't notice the growing? We get so engrossed in the process of life that we don't see the changes as they occur. These bodies we came here to receive are miraculous. How could anyone not know there is a God if they only consider the human body....

Well, I certainly got sidetracked there, now didn't I? We had a delicious dinner followed by a marbled cake with homemade fudge frosting served with vanilla ice cream. And in between dinner and dessert we played C-pictionary. That's where everyone gets to draw pictures of Cs favorite things and see if the rest can figure out what you're drawing. It's good for lots of laughs and for some reason we have a lot of fun exploring our creative sides and drawing abilities (and/or disabilities??).

Whatever else... I love the girl...