now that you\u2019re done!\u201d<\/div>\n
We were<\/i> done.\u00a0 We were certain of it.\u00a0 There was a boy for him and a girl for me, and what more could we want for our family?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I talked to my OB\/GYN about getting my tubes tied.\u00a0 We were positive, I assured him that we didn\u2019t want any more children.\u00a0 He counseled that we wait and discuss it a while longer.\u00a0 My husband and I were in out early 20s and that sweet baby boy was home after6 weeks in the NICU, but he was far from healthy.\u00a0 If he died, the doctor pointed out (a real possibility), then we might want to have another baby.\u00a0 He told me to wait until our small son was a year old.\u00a0 If he made it to his first birthday, we\u2019d schedule surgery.\u00a0 During the week of #2\u2019s first birthday, we discovered that, despite our efforts, I was pregnant again.\u00a0 We weren\u2019t quite as done as we thought we were.<\/p>\n
As our lives went on, we declared ourselves to be \u201cdone\u201d many times.\u00a0 Each time we thought our family to be complete and perfect, and each time we were wrong.\u00a0 5 children later, we no longer make that statement.\u00a0 We\u2019ve learned that \u201cdone\u201d isn\u2019t up to us.\u00a0 \u201cFinished\u201d is a God thing, and He\u2019s so much smarter than we are.<\/p>\n
This past Sunday as I stood in the pew with our family, I looked at that long line of children, and I choked up a bit.\u00a0 I glanced at the profile of our eldest son.\u00a0 I realized again how tall he is getting and how close he is to being grown.\u00a0 Six years from now, he will be headed off to college and no longer a child.\u00a0 I welled up with tears at the thought of the reality of being done 12 years ago and what our lives would be like without the 5 youngest children, how quiet our home would be now, and how painfully silent it would be in just a few years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n
I will be 43 when he\u2019s 18.\u00a0 43.\u00a0 If I\u2019m blessed with the life-span of the women in my family, that will mean another 50 years after he\u2019s gone.\u00a0 50 years in a house with no children.\u00a0 I can\u2019t even imagine it.<\/p>\n
My neighbors talk about all of the things they will do and all the personal dreams they will fulfill once they reach their child-free years, and I will admit to envying them those plans at times. I know for certain, however,\u00a0 that I wouldn\u2019t trade the sound of giggling children or the cacophony of children\u2019s voices or even the clutter of all of their toys for all the freedom which my peers will soon enjoy.<\/p>\n
If we had followed the wisdom of this age, we would be a short 6 years away from freedom, peace, and quiet.\u00a0 6 years from our lives once again belonging only to us.\u00a0 6 years from a quiet and orderly existence. \u00a0 I\u2019m so glad it\u2019s no longer a place I want to be.<\/p>\n
While I may daydream and play with the \u201cwhat-ifs\u201d in my mind, my mental meanderings are interrupted by the voices of my life\u2019s work, my magnum opus.\u00a0 Soon enough, the day will come when my babies are all grown and gone from my home, and the Computer Guy and I will look at each other in stunned disbelief at the silence and order in our home.\u00a0 We will breathe a contented sigh and then do the only sensible thing\u2026<\/p>\n
fill our house with grandchildren.\u00a0 Please God, may there be many.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
12 years ago this Friday, our #2 was born.\u00a0 We had what we were told was the perfect family, \u201cone of each,\u201d and we readily agreed.\u00a0 As the final lines of a poem which was penned by a coworker of the Computer Guy\u2019s ended: \u201c\u2026.Oh what joy,\u00a0 you have a boy!\u00a0 And so what fun\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
6 Years from Freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"12 years ago this Friday, our #2 was born. We had what we were told was the perfect family, "one of each," and we readily agreed. As the final\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2011\/12\/6-years-from-freedom.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"6 Years from Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"12 years ago this Friday, our #2 was born. We had what we were told was the perfect family, "one of each," and we readily agreed. 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