Sweet Sixteen

 My granddaughter Mary Elizabeth turned 16 today.  I can’t believe she’s 16.  It seems like she should be 9 or 10, not getting her drivers licence! But here we are.  

I told you about her parents, Stephen and Sara, and their “love at first sight.”   It was the same way for me the first time I saw Mary Elizabeth, hereafter called ME. It was a few minutes after she was born. The nurse brought her out to give ME her first bath.  All her grandparents were there staring intently with our noses pressed against the window!  The nurse held her up and she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. My heart just melted.  I loved her instantly, fiercely, and completely and it’s still the same way every time I see her.  

There was a time we thought we’d lose her.  She was born with a condition called craniosynestosis, where the plates in a baby’s skull that are supposed to float to make the soft spot, are fused at birth and don’t allow the brain to grow.  Without surgery her life expectancy was only 3-4 years and she would have suffered horribly.  We were told at the time that only 40 doctors in the world could perform the surgery to correct it.  God, or providence, or luck was with us, because one of those 40 doctors was right here at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.  At age 8 months, she underwent an 8 hour operation where they literally took that baby’s skull apart and put it back together.  

Today ME is a perfect, normal teenager.  The only way you’d know there was ever anything wrong is if you look at her head, just above her forehead, about 2 inches in from her hairline, she has a scar that runs across her head from earlobe to earlobe.  Her long hair hides it completely. She does have to be careful.  She can’t ride a bike without a helmet.  She can’t be a cheerleader or a gymnast because the tumbling might injure her head.  No contact sports at all.  

But she makes up for it in other ways.  She’s a straight “A” student.  She’s on her school’s dance team. (Proud grandpa moment here!  Her team went to camp last week and she was named an All American!). She’s involved in activities at school and at her church.  She’s a wonderful young lady and she makes her Pop so proud. 

Happy Birthday Mary Elizabeth! Your Pop loves you more than you’ll ever know.  

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