To Aggie, on her seventh birthday,

Seven years ago today I was in the worst pain I had ever imagined.  Labor with you was horrific.  Daddy was in Iraq.  It was not good.

And then, you:

Aggie Sue, the little girl who turned a day of pain into a day of joy.  Your mere presence transformed a hospital room, a hard day, a sad heart.  It was your debut as a joy-bringer. 

 You continue to be that joy-bringer, even now at age seven.

God's gifts to you pour out of you freely and bring joy to everyone who knows you.  I cannot count them all, but I will name some of my favorites.

Your big heart:

One night we snuggled and listened to "Horton Hatches the Egg."  I asked you girls if you would sit on the egg for that lazy Maisy bird like Horton did.  "No WAY.  It's HER egg, and SHE should sit on it!" Lorraine insisted.  Then, you quietly whispered, "...but she asked nicely..."

I love the way you are always cleaning and organizing your room, and sometimes your brothers' room.  (Or, as you call it, "sortinizing.")  You smile so big when you run to get me (or them), and insist that I close my eyes when I walk down the hall so you can surprise me with the room that you made so beautiful!

Your cheerfulness:

You are constantly RUNNING home from school to tell me (loudly and quickly) about all the WONDERFUL  and AWESOME things you  did each day.  On an especially happy day you told me, "My smile was up to the ceiling! "

Your honesty:

One night before bed you gave Peter a huge goodnight kiss.  "Goodnight my sweetie little sweet baby Petie Pete!  Sissy loves you!

Eldon was not noticed though he was right next to him; so I said, "What about Eldie Aggie, do you have a kiss for him?"

 "But mommy, he's not so cute anymore."

One day I yelled, "AAAHHH! Eldon is peeing on me!"

And you said quietly,  "but it is a little bit funny though."

Another day you stood jabbering in the kitchen, and while your sister shot you the loudest BE QUIET look she could muster, you told me,  "Mommy, sometimes we get up in the night and spray the spray butter in our mouths..."

  

Your creativity:

You are constantly singing.  Sometimes you make up songs, or modify them to your liking:

"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie... then it will poke your eye out..."

One day I downloaded a bluegrass song that made me think of you, called "Ode to a Butterfly."

When I played it for you, you started dancing like crazy, as if bluegrass was the music your heart had been playing all along!  Then you said to me, "Mommy, I love this song!  It sounds like me when I'm running and trying to wrestle a turkey to the ground to eat it!" 

Aggie, on your seventh birthday, I thank God for the seven-hundredth time, for you, for joy, for the way you make all who love you smile "up to the ceiling."

Happy birthday Aggie Sue.

Love, Mommy