Today my baby (youngest of 3 children) is 21 years old. This is a new kind of
weaning for me, a new plateau as a mother - my kids are no longer kids, even
though they are my children forever. My children have taught me, even as I
taught (and continue to teach) them about the world.

Carl's unmedicated birth was quick and easy, but he had meconium aspiration
pneumonia requiring hospitalization for 10 days. I stayed in the hospital
with him the whole time, tucking the oxygen hose under my nursing bra and
trying not to disturb the IV in his scalp. I remember a nurse trying to get
me to give him a bottle of water, and I responded "Why? Just turn up the IV."
 He had speech, coordination, and learning problems his whole life and still
receives "LD" services at the community college he attends. Perhaps because
during his early years he lacked the ability to verbally express himself,
he's exceptionally patient and works well with the "special" children and
adults who come to the pool where he works as a lifeguard and swimming
teacher.

I want to use this opportunity to thank the LLL Leaders of San Antonio, Texas
for their support when Carl was a baby and I was a brand-new LLL Leader. You
will always have a special place in my heart. And my husband Denny, who took
leave to care for Hannah (now 23) and Edwin (now 25) while I stayed in the
hospital 10 days with baby Carl. Not many dads did that sort of thing 20
years ago.

Linda Smith, contemplating the meaning of lives tonight. Dayton, OH