Today represents a day of blessings to me.

54 years ago, my baby brother “TOM’ was born.

I was 14 years at the time and way excited for a new baby “sister” in my life.  LOL  LOL

I was for sure that this baby would be a girl so that we could even out the numbers.

Back in the day, there were no cell phones.  How in the world did we ever find out what was happening?  

Back in the day it was called, “word travels.”

Everyday I ran home from school.  I did not bother to wait and walk home with friends.  As I got closer to the house – I would hear shout outs – “Not today!”

And everyday I thought, “they don’t know for sure!”

I remember after a few weeks, I stopped running so fast – I was beginning to think that my new sister wasn’t coming after all.

It was on a Thursday in April – the 9th to be exact – that Tom made his first appearance.  As I walked home that day with friends and got closer to home, I started hearing shout outs, “Hey, your mom went to have the baby today!”

For real!  I started running as fast as I could, when I got home, my grandma Ruth was there – staying and helping with baby #6.  My dad was a soldier.  And he was gone.  He was in Vietnam.  So mom was home alone with five kids and expecting #6.

You see, my mom was a soldier’s wife.  A good one.  She almost died giving birth to Tom – after delivery – she had an emergency hysterectomy.  She could have had the Red Cross contact my dad but these were her words – “No, don’t bother him with this.  He has an important job to get done – I can handle this!”  And she did.

Now getting back to the new baby – Grandma Ruth (aka Granny) told me I had a new baby brother!.  Wait a minute!  It was suppose to be a girl – to even up the odds in the household.

And then, I met Tom!  In those moments, I forgot all about the odds and fell in love with my baby brother!

God’s blessings come in many ways and many forms.  On that day, 54 years ago, that blessing came in the form of a baby and his name was Tom!

Tom became known as the “Cave Man” in our home.  He had so much hair that you couldn’t even see his eyes!  His hair was very dark at birth but he ended up with strawberry blonde hair as he got older.

Funny that I can’t find a picture of the two of us together!  But interestingly, I was always taking pictures of him – we didn’t have selfies back then!

My song:  I am forever thankful for the gift of a baby brother so many years ago.  There is a bond between Tom and I that will be forever special.  So today I thank God once again, for his amazing gift.

Thank God for Kids