Angel #1

30 years ago this weekend I was in the Idaho Falls hospital.
Many things led up to my brief stay, but on that special day I was given the most amazing gift.
Today instead of focusing on what led up to that day, and why the Forth of July would never ever be the same for me; I would like to focus and what happened that day and why it changed my life forever.
On the Forth of July 30 years ago I met an angel.
I didn't plan for her to come on the Forth, and to be quite honest I was pretty sure that my Angel was coming in the form of a BOY.
I had no idea what was happening to my body. I knew that it was getting increasingly difficult to perform my usual tasks, and I was having a hard time sleeping. My grandmother Thomas was visiting, and her words of wisdom have stuck with me all these years, "Oh honey, it's going to get worse before it gets better." I noticed that something funny was happening to my tummy and I called Suzie and Becky in to watch. I said, "Watch this, it gets hard for a while, and then it gets soft again, it keeps doing it over and over."
Fortunately my Mother was standing close by and heard my description, she said, "Hollie, you are in labor."
Things started to change really fast then. Suitcase packed, hustle, bustle, it would take at least a half an hour to get to the hospital.
We loaded the car and off we went.
Back in those days we didn't have the beautiful birthing rooms the hospitals have now, I wasn't hooked up to all the IV's and birthing monitor. I got a shot in my behind. Then the staff helped move me onto a flat, cold table. I remember them telling me that I had to move down and all I could think was, "Are you kidding me? I can't even breathe and you want me to move..."
We were wheeled into a cold, sterile labor and delivery room.
During 9 months of pregnancy you think you are prepared, you think you know what your body is doing, you think it will happen exactly how you read in the books. The things they don't tell you start to happen. The pain comes and everything else doesn't matter. Some women get mad and yell at their husband, not me, I get real quiet because I don't have the energy to focus on anything but breathing. So the incredible journey begins. As that precious baby moves closer and closer to this life the pain increases. It becomes purely basic, primal, you just let your body do what it was made to do.
And then the reward...
All the sticky black hair on top of the perfect round head of a beautiful baby girl, with the biggest, blackest eyes I have ever seen.
The doctor held her up and I cried.
That day Tiffany Marie Hammack, an angel straight from heaven left the premortal existence to be with me.
Right then I knew that Heavenly Father loved me; how could He trust me to raise, love, and teach such an amazing creature? I'm sure that I had not done enough good in the world to deserve her.
Independence Day took on a whole new meaning for me.
Learning how to be a parent, making all my best mistakes on my firstborn.
But she has carried her amazing independent personality into all that she has accomplished, in spite of me.
She is a remarkable person. She is smart. She is kind. She is strong. She knows the difference between right and wrong. She knows how to make people feel special. She knows when to shine and when to step back so that others have the opportunity to shine. She is the big sister; to not just her siblings, but to everyone.
When people would ask me how Tiffany was doing I would often say...
"She is who I want to be when I grow up."
Today she a wonderful mother. Teaching her son with love, patience, and kindness.
I was once told that the sign of a great teacher is when the student surpasses the greatness of the teacher. I must be the best teacher ever...
I love you my Tiffany Marie. Heavenly Father sent me an angel 30 years ago, I didn't deserve you then and I don't deserve you now.
You are everything I ever hoped you would be.
You are my Sunshine.