March 4th, Happy Birthday, Jill

Our daughter Jill marched forth on this day 36 years ago, on a Sunday evening during an early spring when the daffodils and forsythia were in full bloom.

Not knowing whether our first child would be a boy or a girl, we referred to it before birth as "Daffodil", our flower that would bloom in March.

We had narrowed the name choice to two boy names and two girl names, and decided to wait until we met this child to decide. When we did, Jill won out over Jennifer, and we added my middle name, Irene, to hers. Now Irene is also the name of her daughter, my grandchild.

Jill was always an independent sort. Her first sentence was " I do it my by self!" as she slammed the cookie jar lid down for emphasis. There is a chip in the old pottery jar to prove it.

When her brother was born two years later, she became his second mother. When I discovered two year old Jill carrying her three day old brother out of the bedroom I nearly had a heart attack. She was taking care of him. Door knob guards went on that evening! They grew up together as best friends.

In high school Jill ran track and cross country, and was manager of the wrestling team for four years. I thought this wrestling team thing was odd at first, but then I realized this was an extension of her mothering nature. The coach was hopelessly disorganized, and Jill made sure schedules were followed. She managed the boys on the team by taking care of them, but if the young ones got out of hand, she could take them to the mat and pin them. They had her respect.

Impatient to get on with her life, Jill finished college in three years, going summers, and graduated with a degree and a teaching certificate. In a few more years she had her Masters Degree. She did some long term substitute jobs and some teaching of Physical Ed in the area while trying to get a job she really wanted. Then she decided she needed a change. In January, in the middle of a school year, she took a leave of absence and moved to Colorado. There she boarded with a Pastor and his wife and did substitute teaching in a small town out on the plains. The next year she got a first grade teaching job. She also met her future husband, Corey, who was a deputy with the county sheriff's office.

I knew when she left that she would not be back to the Seattle area to live, and it took a while for me to come to terms with her absence, but she has made a wonderful life for herself in a small town in rural Colorado. She and Corey have two beautiful children, Isaac and Irene. She is a wonderful mother while also being a very good teacher. We travel to see them in the fall, at Christmas, and in the spring. Jill and the kids come for a long visit in June when school is out. The whole family returns to Seattle for their vacation at the end of July. In between we communicate by phone, email, and web cam. Technology has made separation so much easier to bear.

Happy Birthday, Jill. We love you.

(I'ts not an early spring this year, but we do have several clumps of mini-daffodils blooming for Jill's birthday.)