Happy 21st Birthday Hannah!

I was texting back and forth with Hannah yesterday, and on one text I said “I love you almost 21 year old!!!”  She replied “isn’t it weird that you have been a parent for 21 years??!!”

And the answer is yes!  I have no idea how she went from being born to turning 21 so fast.   Her actually due date was March 20, the day after me and my sisters birthday.  At the time my day job was accounts payable/receivable for a company that flipped apartment buildings into condos.

My boss would buy a building, then send 30 day notices to the tenants telling them they had 30 days to either buy their unit, or to move out.  These tenants obviously were not thrilled.

March 6, 1992 was supposed to be my last day of work.  My boss told me I had to go to a board meeting in Chicago and that when they voted on stuff, all I had to say was “yea.”  He told me he’d take me out to dinner after it was all over, which was good, because I was starving.

Well, these tenants were throwing fits, the meeting that was supposed to be done by 8, didn’t end until 10:30!  My sister was working at the Palmer House and got off of work at 11:00.  I went to pick her up and we immediately went to Gino’s East to get some pizza.  Deep dish of course, so by the time we got the pizza, ate and drove home, it was nearly 2:00 a.m.

But I was up the next day – that was the day I picked up my crib I had on lay-a-way and got her car seat.  I was out with my Mom pretty much the whole day and got back to my apartment about 4:00 in the afternoon.  Around 5:00 I started feeling something.  Huh.  I called my Mom, she immediately wanted me to come back to their house (a mere 7 blocks away) and it was decided around 7:00 that we head to the hospital.

Maybe because I was young and stupid, but I never even thought to ask for any pain medication – contractions hurt like a son of a bitch.  Around 11:15 p.m. they asked me to start pushing, but when I did Hannah’s heart beat would slow down.  At 11:30 they decided to do an emergency C-section, and she came into the world at 11:46 p.m.

A few days later when we brought her home to our apartment, I remember me and my sister just looking at her thinking “I wonder what she’ll be like at 3 when she can talk and everything!”

Hannah’s a junior in college now.  She lives in Chicago with her boyfriend.  She works 30 hours a week at Panera.  She’s been to Germany and has spent countless summers at my Aunt’s Lake House.

She makes me so proud to call her my daughter, and I can’t wait to see what life has in store for her.

This is the first birthday I haven’t been able to wake her up and sing happy birthday at the top of my lungs like I normally do!  I’ll just have to do it over the phone – no worries!

I love you Hannah – hope you have an awesome day!

  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!