Sarah is our firstborn, by two minutes - firstborn twin, and labeled "Baby A" by the doctors while in the womb. I'll never forget the first time I saw her little scrunched up face as the doctor held her up so I could see. She was a perfect, 5 lb. 11 oz. blonde haired beauty, with a bent over ear due to her cramped quarters the last few months, but that straightened out with time.
Sarah was my cuddler. She loved to be held and rocked. I remember one time when she was probably 6 or 7 months old, I took her to the grocery store with me one evening by herself. I placed her in the seat in the front of the cart, and at least twice on every aisle with a big smile on her face she would reach up to give me a hug. Such a sweetie! She loved her baby dolls and stuffed animals, and would carry as many as her little arms could hold.
In her early life, Sarah could best be described as careful. She never hurt herself with the normal baby chin bumps and falls because she was overly cautious. When she first started walking, she held her left arm out at a strange angle in an effort to help with her balance. As she grew, she continued to be careful - one year on vacation we went to Colorado and rode the alpine slide - Sarah held her brake all the way down the mountain! With her siblings, Sarah always took the role of little mother when conflicts occurred between her brother and sister, and she often tried to see to their other needs as well.
Sarah has always had an "old soul" - I used to tell people she was a 40 year old mind trapped in a child's body. I was always amazed at the questions she asked me, and the deep conversations we would have when she was very young. We had to be careful that the news wasn't on when Sarah was nearby - one evening she overheard the newscaster talking about Dr. Kevorkian, and she took what she heard to heart. That night at bedtime, it came back to haunt her, and Jeff and I found ourselves reluctantly trying to explain assisted suicide to a very young child. When she was 5 years old, a man we knew from church passed away after a lengthy illness. We had been praying for him, and the kids would always remember him when they prayed at bedtime. They knew and loved him, so the day he passed away, I wasn't quite sure how to tell them. That night at bedtime when we were talking about who we needed to pray for, they mentioned this man. I told them we didn't need to pray for him anymore, but we needed to pray for his wife, and then I told them why, fully prepared for them to fall to pieces. Sarah thought about that for a minute, smiled from ear to ear, and said, "Oh! He went to be with God!" Such insight for a child, and that was just one occasion that I learned something from Sarah.
Sarah always loved books, and she wanted to learn to read before she started to school, so I helped her do that. Her favorite book was her Children's Bible, and I can still hear her "reading" it out loud to her dolls. As she grew, that love for reading grew, and she is probably the youngest person who has ever read the complete Bible from start to finish. She's also always loved writing, and the blog she writes often moves me to tears.
Sarah has now grown into a beautiful, tender-hearted, talented, loving young woman of God. She has a deep love of language, especially the Spanish language. She will graduate from Texas A&M in May with a degree in Bilingual Elementary Education. She loves children, and will do well as a teacher. I've seen so much growth in her, especially over the past few years. She's had to deal with some life issues involving her heart as well as her health, and I'm proud of the way she's bounced back from life's setbacks. She loves people in general, and is such a blessing to all who know her, and one of her best attributes is her giving nature. Even as as child, she was always willing to give up what she wanted for the benefit of others - a true, Christ-like heart. I am so very proud of who she is, and I am honored and blessed to be her mother. But beyond the academic success, and the care she has for other people, I am most proud of the heart she has for God. She's not just my daughter, but she's my sister in Christ, and that makes my heart so happy. I love my sweet Sarah in a special, unique way that defies description, and I am thankful beyond words for the blessing she continues to be in my life.
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