Tag Archives: Family

What’s in a name?

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My husband has been blogging for years.  He was an early adopter, and his online persona just sort of evolved, and fits perfectly…  the NorthStar Nerd.  We live in the North Star state, we have a cabin on North Star Lake and well, he is a nerd.  And darned proud of it!  If you have interest in all things techie, particularly social media and collaboration tools, check out his blog NorthStarNerd.org.  There are plenty of interesting off-topic posts as well.

So that left the question of my moniker.  These things can’t be forced, you just know when you find the right thing.  I used my newest best friend – thesaurus.com – to look up various words I thought would describe me.  I bounced around ideas in my head, and being the consummate list-maker, I wrote them down.  But as often happens, inspiration hit when my brain was idle and the wind whipped through my hair, on a bike trail.  I had it!

Petite Perfectionist.  That’s me all right.  I’m small, but I pack a lot of energy, and no one will argue my perfectionist tendencies.  Blogging world, meet the PetitePerfectionist – your host of Superior Footprints!

The Miracle of Life

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There is nothing like the birth of a baby, especially when it is your grandchild.  With our first, we cherished holding our little bundle, just hours old, in the normal confines of the hospital room.  But this second one had a different plan!

I was the designated grandparent to come stay with big brother, should the trip to the hospital require leaving in the middle of the night.  Sure enough, I got the 3:00am call asking me to come.  I jumped in the car and raced down the highway for the half-hour trip, little suspecting the drama that was unfolding.  I arrived to find two police cars in the street with lights flashing…  Inside, I was met by my son-in-law, Matt, who informed me that baby Mya had already been born!  Less than 10 minutes before, the baby had made her abruptMya footprints entrance into the world, on the bathroom floor attended only by her parents – before any help could arrive!  By then, the police were cheerfully assisting and the EMTs soon joined them.  It was a scene of joyful chaos, as baby and mother were both doing well, and it was just a matter of preparing them for the trip to the hospital.

How privileged I felt to be present.  To see baby Mya, just minutes old, still white with mucous but already gaining a pink glow.  To hug Matt, still fresh from the shock of delivering his own daughter, impressed with his level-headedness through it all.  To see my own daughter, Karen, radiant with joy as they strapped her into a chair to take her downstairs.  Relief and happiness were written all over their faces.  They were precious moments, that will remain with me forever.

When the assembled multitudes finally left the house, and the street returned to darkness, it was unbelievably quiet.  Big brother Ben had slept through it all!  The adrenaline was still pumping through my body, and I could hardly wait for dawn to come so I could take Ben to the hospital and hold that little bundle – cleaned up and wrapped in hospital blankets, as expected.

Click here for Karen’s personal account of Mya’s arrival.

Click here for pictures of the event.

The best birthday present

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“What is that?” my husband asked skeptically.  “A mother/daughter journal”, I replied.  He was clearly not impressed.  To him it was just a hard-bound blank book, probably a last-minute purchase for a birthday present from my daughter.  But I knew better.

Inside was the start of something wonderful.  It was an entry by my daughter, complete with pictures of when she was little and filled with words about what I meant to her.  She captured moments and recounted memories that filled me with warmth.  But the next step was up to me – I was to write back.  Since that day, the cycle has repeated itself many times, as the journal has been passed between us for many years.  Sometimes the exchanges have been in rapid succession; others occurred with months lapsing in between.  But each return fills me with anticipation.  Reading it requires the right time and place – surprisingly, days may go by before I find time to sequester myself for my private read.  But I am always rewarded.

That first entry was in her senior year of high school.  The journal has seen us through her college years, figuring out that her best friend was meant to be her husband, launching her teaching career, wedding planning, and the joy of her first child.  I’ve traversed maneuvering through a job change, easing into empty nesting, performing in a church musical, watching my mom slip away into Alzheimer’s and ultimately her loss.  We’re well into volume 2 with no end in sight.  Just recently I handed it back to her, and can’t wait for her to read my entry and respond.

I knew it.  It was the best birthday present ever.