Happy Birthday Andrea

Andrea was born early in the morning of Mother’s Day, May 8, 1983. The day before she was born, I went shopping for some flowers and planted a little flower bed. I went into labor that night. I was up all night with labor. When I woke Ron up, he fiddled around getting dressed, eating cereal, until I finally said, IT’S TIME TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!”

Andrea was a very pleasant baby. She adapted to our busy schedule, fitting in wherever we went. Brad loved having a baby sister. Brad was 3 ½ when Andrea was born, so he was really good at taking care of her. As Andrea grew, she became to one to take care of Brad and then Amanda too. I knew when she was really young that she was a caregiver, and suspected that she might become a teacher. Everywhere we went, Andrea carried a note tablet, “taking notes” on everything that we did, and this was before she could read or write, it was all scribbles.

I remember Andrea learning to read. I wrote “cat” on our white board, then added the rat, mat, sat, etc, she read it all, then went on to other similar word groups. “Pigs and Suds” was her first book to read. And she read every book she could get her hands on after that.

I also knew that she could sing at a very young age. In Sunday school they would learn a new song, I would try to sing it with the kids, of course I could not remember the tune, and Andrea would sing it for me.

Andrea was always a little intense, even as a child. Her third grade teacher questioned me about putting pressure on her to advance. I quickly told her that I tried to get Andrea to relax. I would tell Andrea to go play outside after school, before it would get dark. But Andrea was determined to do her homework before playing! I don’t think I ever had to ask her if she had completed an assignment!

Ron and Andrea were the organized ones; Brad, Amanda and I are more of the last minute schedulers. I always knew that Andrea would only be happy when she could totally control her environment. Well, you know that no one can really control all of the circumstances of life. Andrea and I often had “disagreements” about what I would call our “organizational” skills, or my lack of them.

I have always been so proud of Andrea. She is beautiful, smart, funny, a hard worker, very organized, sings like an angel, and a very caring person! I am so happy for Andrea; she has a husband that she loves, and three wonderful children that she adores.

Life has a way of working things out. Andrea has a little girl just like her! The other night, Violet scolded her Mommy for not putting the toys away properly.


I love you Andrea!