I am now officially the “Mother of the Bride”
Amy
My only daughter, Amy, called 2 weeks ago (almost 3 weeks now) to say that she and Nate are engaged. This was not a surprise. She and Nate have been dating for a little over 18 months. Nate is the only person about whom I have received the phone call, “Mom, there’s someone that I think you should meet.”
And I was in Nashville the following weekend. (In my defense, she knew that I would be there asap after receiving the call, so it’s not like I was intruding, at least as far as Amy was concerned.)
Amy is 32, my second child. She has lived on her own for several years. She has owned a house in Nashville for several years. Her jobs have been varied, but usually centering around marketing. She can tend to be a little bossy. She would like to see herself as the carefree youngest child. But since she is 6 years younger than her brother, she has as many only/oldest child tendencies as she does the youngest child.
And I love her dearly, with all my heart. I can still remember needing to conceive her, carrying her for 10 days past the due date, the short delivery time, hearing her first feeble cries growing stronger, holding her for the first time. I also remember watching her in her infant carrier, putting her beside the sink as I was washing dishes, and praying, “God, please don’t let me mess her up!”
Did I also mention that I REALLY, REALLY wanted her to be a girl. This is not in any way a slight of my oldest child, my only son. But there was something in me that REALLY wanted my 2nd child to be a girl. People would say, “Oh, no, you just want your baby to be healthy.” And I would always respond, “I want a healthy, intelligent baby girl.” She was born in a place that didn’t follow the baby’s development with sonograms and it was way before 3-d picture portfolios. So I didn’t have the option of knowing with certainty the gender of my 2nd child. Our son said early on that “it” was a girl. Not that he really wanted a baby sister or that it would be nice for his mother’s wishes to be granted. He just said it with certainty, as if he had some insider knowledge. And to this date, I’m very glad that she is a healthy, intelligent girl – woman.
I will be using this category in my blog, which I am currently totally revamping, to track the next 6 months as it relates to being the Mother of the Bride. I will appreciate advice, ideas, warnings from others who have been Mother of the Bride, whether recently or in years past. A few thoughts from past brides about what they wish their mothers would have or have not done as Mother of the Bride would also be appreciated.
I want to “survive” the wedding with grace and the love of my daughter fully intact!
