The Story of Sweet Pea

TorzJohnson

TorzJohnson

Joined
Aug 4, 2001
Messages
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My youngest daughter (known affectionately by me as "Sweet Pea") is 10 years old today. She's a bit special for a few reasons.

When we found out she was coming, it was quite a surprise. With a girl and a boy already in the family, we were done having kids. I had felt a bit melancholy before, because I felt like I wasn't ready to stop having kids, but our minds were made up and we couldn't afford more kids. Well, along came our little surprise.

There was never any thought of "taking care of it", we just decided to take what life gave us. Secretly I was overjoyed that another child was on its way.

Without waiting for a doctor, our little girl decided she would be born when she was ready. 30 minutes of labor and she popped into an unprepared Nurse's arms. Perfectly healthy and cute as a button.

This little one grew up easily and happily. She ate well, slept well and never gave us a bit of trouble. There were none of the midnight emergency room visits that we had with our first two kids. We found that we could afford another child. We had a lot of stuff from the first two, and when money was hard to come by there were hand-me-downs from relatives, and thrift-store / consignment shop clothes and supplies.

So anyway, over the years she has provided me with so much joy in being her father, over and over again. I can't help thinking how drab the world would have been, if not for Sweet Pea.

If there is anybody else out there that is starting out in the same situation, remember that there are never any "mistakes". There are surprises and unexpected blessings.

I'm not really much of a religious guy, but I thank God every day for my Sweet Pea.
 
Thank you for your post. You're a lucky man and your kids are lucky to have a dad with that kind of wisdom.
 
Print that post out & leave it to her in your will.

I bet you've told her in other ways already, but surprise her later, too.
 
You are truly blessed.
There can never be enough little girls. We have two bio daughters who are married and will each have their fourth child next month (all but one of them boys).
A little over 12 years ago through a phone conversation with a casual acquaintance we were asked we knew of any one interested in adopting a baby girl. That is how my incredible Chelsie came into our lives.
Our young foster daughters have been with us for almost three years.
It will kill me if they ever take them.
 
This story sounds suspiciously familiar.

In the case of Mr. and Mrs. OP it turned out to be twins. A beautiful little girl (Beth) and a chubby little boy (Ben). Scared the devil out of both of us, and we've never ceased to thank my Mother for 'visiting' to help out (for the first two years!). Our families had never seen twins...

There were times we thought we just wouldn't make it. The pregnancy was very hard on Mrs. OP, and we weren't exactly wealthy. We were also USAF officers with a lot of responsibilities and stresses. It wasn't easy on our first two children, either.

Now, decades later, it's clearly the best thing that ever happened to us. We have a gifted artist with a beautiful soul and tall, rail thin computer geek who makes me prouder every day. Every sacrifice was worth it. In fact, I hardly miss my sanity anymore.

Life's funny.

Regardless -- Happy Birthday to Sweet Pea!
 
I don't have kids, and I do not know if I will ever have kids. I love my siblings very much, my cousins, and my older cousins daughter, my niece. But have some of my own? I don't know. I do know that my parents say that they planned me and my sister, but my other four siblings were not planned. They love them all just the same. Nice story Torz. My youngest sister, who is about 10 (I will be 28 in July, she 10 in December) is nicknamed Little Bird by my father.
 
nice post. my wife and i were going to be "dinks" (double income, no kids). a couple of weeks after my 40th birthday she called me at work crying and upset. turns out my belated birthday present was my now almost 5 year old son. i never would have chosen to have children, but now can't imagine what life would be like without him. thanks for reminding me again,

Winston
 
You tell Sweet Pee happy birthday, and that all the cool folks were born on March 5th. Svanderkolff, me, and Mike Mooney.
 
Very touching story....Esav said it best........................tear, snif.
 
I have three sons, adopted in 2002, 2003 and 2006.



... we move and the damn Agency keeps telling them where we moved to :D


Seriously though, very beautiful story Torz :thumbup:
 
When my first son was born he came out of mom as blue as the top border of the webpage I am typing on. Soon after he has grand mal siezures and had to be put in a drug induced coma. The Dr.s did not know what to do really. I remember holding my son in my arms weeping and begging God just to let him live and in exchange I would happily live in a shoebox and eat garbage everyday of my life.

two yearls later as a result of that trauma he was diagnosed as being Autistic.

15 years after that he stands a full two inches taller than his Dad. Has a wonderful personality, a great sense of humor and a character that everyone who meets him immediatly falls in love with. Alex has changed the world for many people with his quiet determination. His acceptance of the way things are and who he is. His love of life and family and his love of others. Teachers have gone back to school to learn how to be Autistic Impared coordinators. Men have changed careers to help the Autistic because of meeting my son. Its amazing what life can do. He is a 4.0 student in high school and is being recruited by the top universities in Michigan to apply. I am so proud of that kid I could burst.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET PEA
 
Great post, Ren. But don't forget to take a little credit for yourself. I'm sure there was a lot of hard work from you and your wife that helped get your son to where he is now.

BTW my boy had a brain hemorrhage right after birth and I spent a week camping out in NICU... He came out of it alright, but I had a taste of what you went through.
 
While I lack the personal experience to contribute anything new to this thread, I feel the need to reiterate how touching the stories that I've read in here are, and that I wish Sweet Pea a very happy birthday.

Best regards,
 
Two great sons (6) & (10), neither planned both a source of love and pride. Both very ADHD and bright. Everyday there is something new, not always good, but never boring.

They love knives.


Unfortunately matches as well.

You can't say no to a little girl, at an airshow my God Daughter wanted a flip in a plane, she got a flip in a Pits Special and I got hell.

Have a great time with Sweet Pea.
 
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