16 today

The ringing telephone woke me up from a dead sleep.  Mom answered the phone with her usual chirpy voice and normal phone etiquette took place.  Then all of a sudden I hear, “Leigh Ann’s pregnant?!?!?!?!”  The phone conversation lasts another 10 minutes or so and then my bedroom door opens and my overhead lights are turned on.  Mom asks the loaded question, “Guess what?”  I respond with, like any always in a bad mood when woken up 16 year old, “Leigh Ann’s pregnant.”  Mom looks at me with a question on her face and I inform her that I overheard the phone conversation.  I did not know then what I know now, but that phone call and the birth that resulted from the pregnancy news changed my life forever.

Today, you are turning 16 years old.  The exact age that I was when I found out that you were to be.  When I was younger, I never understood what people meant when they said that time flies by.  I understand it now, though.  It doesn’t seem like you should be turning 16.  I remember walking through the store trying to pick out the cutest clothes that I could find for a shower gift for your mom.  I purchased a white onsie filled with bright colors.  It’s the outfit that your parents brought you home from the hospital in.  I still remember you dancing around at just a year old in one of your dad’s t-shirts to “My Maria,” your favorite song at the time.  I also remember picking you up from daycare when you were 3 and taking you to walk around my college campus.  It wasn’t that long ago that you would ride around on my shoulders.   It seems like just yesterday that I was purchasing Fisher Price toys for your birthday and Christmas.   There are too many memories to tell, but each one seems like it just occurred.  Time has certainly sped up since I was 16 and now this rite of passage is happening for you.

Often friends will ask me a loaded question about the looks of their children.  It usually starts with, “Isn’t my baby the cutest baby you’ve ever seen?”  I always smile and say they sure are cute, but Evan Gaddis is still the cutest baby that I’ve ever seen.  It’s amazing how much I fell in love with you from the minute I first heard your cry.  I was standing in the room next to your mom’s delivery room and I could hear the doctor and nurse coaching your mom.  I could also hear your dad laughing the second he saw you.  My ear was pressed to the wall anticipating that first life sound.  When you let out that cry, my heart melted and tears ran down my cheeks.   I ran into the hall and announced that you were here.  We’d waited for such a long time to meet you and now you were here.  I couldn’t wait to get my hands on you.

A few minutes later, they walked you down to the nursery and your dad never left your side.  There we all stood peeping through the windows at one of the biggest newborns any of us had ever seen.  Your dad couldn’t stop laughing and we couldn’t stop talking about how big and sweet you were.  They put you in a diaper and let your dad hold you for the first time.  Like any proud father, he held you up for our inspection and for the first time in my life, I saw perfection.  I knew that you would not be perfect, but I knew that God had created you and that He had died for you and that it would be my honor always to have you in my life.  Then I looked down at your feet.  Purple feet that is.  I started making hand motions at your dad.  That’s when I noticed your hands.   They were purple too.  You were crying with everything you had and I realized that they were freezing you.  In a short amount of time, your dad had to give you back to the nurses and he walked out to give us all the details of your life.  The first thing I said to him was that you were freezing and I knew this because you were turning blue.  He laughed and said there was no way because the nursery was warm and so were the lights above your bed.  I then pointed out your hands and feet and he said that’s from the ink they used to get his finger and footprints.  Needless to say, I was relieved.  I’ll be honest and tell you that I was pretty upset until I heard that news.

I’ve loved a lot of people in my life.  The day you were born, I discovered how a person’s heart could grow with love.  I could feel it happening in and to me.  I had this strong desire to see you grow, to see you accomplish everything you wanted, and more importantly to see you accept Christ as your Savior.  I held you as a baby and prayed for God to do amazing things in your life.  I asked Him to walk with you through life that can sometimes be really hard and give you all the desires of your heart.  I also asked Him to reveal Himself to you in a real way and accept Him the first time that He asked you to be His.  I’m so thankful that I was able to see that prayer answered.

Evan, you are everything and more that I could ever want as a nephew!  I count you among my biggest blessings.  There is nothing that I am more proud of than to say that I am your aunt.  You have brought joy to my life since the moment I knew you were here.  You are an amazing young man and I feel honored that I get to spend this life and the one to come with you.  I’m so excited that you are turning 16.  I can’t wait to hear and see all the adventures that you are going to have from this time forward.  I’ve already been a part of so many and I can’t wait to see what happens next.  Know that wherever you are, I will always love you and be praying that God guides you through all the things that life has to offer.  Thank you for letting me be a part of your world.  Happy Birthday, dude!!!