Boyett Babble Time: Twenty Four

Today marks what would have been my son's 24th birthday. It's hard to imagine to me that I could be the mom of a 24 year old and it's even harder to believe I'm not on this earth anyway. Chad was born May, 25, 1988 by scheduled c-section. I was terrified to say the very least and then completely shocked the Lord had given me a son as I was certain I would have a little girl. I wasn't sure how to raise a little boy, but apparently God knew he would be the perfect child for me. He was easy (at least for me) to raise. As a small boy he was one busy little fellow and rarely slept. I know that will seem like an exaggeration, but trust me, if you were around us at that time you would know very well how true that statement really is. I thought I would just reminisce a little about some of my favorite memories to give you a glimpse into the life of being Chad's momma bear...
Memory #1 - This has to start the memories and hopefully a little hope for other moms going through the same thing with their baby. Chad did what is called projectile vomiting (okay, not some one's favorite topic, but it became pretty comical). I finally got really good at figuring out when it was coming and had it timed just right to make it to his bathroom sink. This really helped manage the clean up. The most fun moment, however, came when I was taking him to my favorite he cousin's house in MS. It was in Memphis, TN in the dead heat of summer and all of a sudden I hear him moan a bit and told my cosign sitting in the other front seat to lean towards the door. She made the mistake of asking why before moving and she found herself a victim of this lovely stage... You got it! Smacked the windshield (and her left side) and the best part... we were still at least an hour away from our destination with NO WHERE to stop and do a quick clean up! Windows down and lots of big breaths out the windy later we made it! Whew!
Memory #2 - Chad was a sleep walker almost from the moment he learned to walk. Our neighbor at the time calls us around 2:00 am or so and said, did you know Chad was over here? I said NO! I thought he was in his bed asleep. He was sitting in her little girl's room playing with her toys. Good grief! :) We then moved the lock on the front door to the top of the door and moved a chair that was sitting by the door so we didn't repeat that little field trip.
Memory #3 - I was at work and getting close to leaving for the day. Chad was home with his father and I get a phone call that he had lost Chad. WHAT! How do you just lose him at the house. Well, after several comments (or screaming) moments later I get home frantic. He calmly says, would you like to see where your son was? Well, duh! He opens the dryer door and yep, there he was. He was told over and over to stay out of the dryer and when he would not I decided (right or wrong) to teach him a lesson so the next time he crawled inside, I kept the door opened, pushed the little button for the door, and turned the dryer on for half a turn. He was all arms and legs and screamed... M O M M A! I said, now, stay out of the dryer. That was the last time (to my knowledge) that he ever crawled into a dryer again.
Memory #4 - He went through a stage of telling us that something was on fire. It ranged from his room, to toys, etc. One evening we are trying to get ready to go somewhere and he had been watching CMT (Country Music TV for those who may not know) and he says, the microwave is on fire. I fussed at him and he just would not stop. Over and over he would keep saying it. Well, I could not come out of the room yet so I sent his father in there and told him to tell Chad to stop saying that. Well, suddenly I hear all this commotion and turns out, the microwave WAS on fire this time! He had placed his microphone inside the microwave (which yes, oddly enough was under the counter top at his eye level) and he turned it on. Needless to say, the microwave was toast (literally) and the fire department had to be called to check things out. Thankful everyone was ok and no major damage, well, except for the microphone and microwave. FYI, the microphone had to be replaced first.
Memory #5 - Allen Jackson's song "Wanted". He would sing his little heart out in the backseat of the car singing that song and you would just have to hear him sing it to understand the sweetness of it. He had to wear his white cowboy hat when he sang anything Allen Jackson and his black one when he sang anything Garth Brooks. Ahhhhh... those were such sweet little moments.
Memory #6 - Skipping ahead a little. He was fishing with BoBo and uncle Johnny at Little Blue in OK. They were wading around casting and suddenly something touched his ankle and he thought it was a snake so he threw all his stuff in Blue and just ran (and yes completely out of his shoes) and would not stop. BoBo and uncle Johnny yelled to get him to stop and started gathering his things as they were floating away and when they finally got to him they explained it was a little fish. LOL! We didn't let him live that one down for a long time.
Memory #7 - Fishing on "Just Piddling" with Chad and Stacy! Ugh! That's the best description for this lovely adventure. They were more like brother and sister for the most part, but you add fishing into the mix and it makes it very hard for this momma or anyone else for that matter to get any sun bathing in. If one got a bite or heaven forbid actually catch one and suddenly that was the only spot in the entire lake around the boat that had fish so the fighting would begin... Jeez! :)
Memory #8 - There are so many to mention that I won't keep you reading (if I haven't lost you by now) and this is probably my most favorite memory ever we have to skip ahead to his wedding reception. His wedding to say the very least was very emotional for me. I had never had to share him with another woman and suddenly I find myself doing just that for the first time and I was filled with various feelings. I was excited, scared, sad, happy, and unsure. I had come up with all these sweet little mother/son songs for our mother/son dance for the reception and sent them to Chad & Katie. I didn't know which one he had actually decided on so it was a surprise at our dance time. It was a song by Lee Ann Womack "I hope you dance". This is the song that I always told him that I wanted played at my funeral for him and all my nieces and nephews, because that was my hope for them. I was so touched that he chose a song that meant so much to me to be our song. That's not the most important part of this memory. The most important part for me was while we were dancing we talked the entire time and of course, I cried. He looked down at me and said, momma, you aren't losing me. Nothing will change, your still my momma bear and you will always have me. That baby knew I needed to hear that and I could not have been more proud at that very moment. That small statement from him allowed me to allow him to start this new chapter in his life with the assurance that he will still be right there and I wasn't actually being replaced, just receiving another "bonus" child.
I've said it before, if I'm breathing, I am missing my son. I don't know how to move on and carry on with this "new normal" life I'm finding myself in and just as I couldn't imagine myself as a mom the day it was confirmed that I was pregnant, I can't imagine myself not being Chad's mommy.