It was an absolute miracle. I carried my “Lily,” my daughter, my most precious baby girl in my womb for nine months. I was 36 years old when I gave birth to Lily, my only child. I had exactly 36 hours of natural labor from the time my water broke until Lily was born. When I layed in complete sweat from head to toe giving birth, I recall thinking, “Lord, why is this excruciating pain necessary ? Why are you allowing such pain?” I passed out. When I woke, Lily was being born.
My precious…I always call my Lily, precious or tweetsie, like the Tweety bird cartoon because she is so adorable. She was born absolutely perfect and beautiful with a lot of dark hair and fair skin, little petit lips and so much personality from birth. Her big eyes are brown, like her fathers. When she was an infant crawling only, Michael, my husband put her in her crib in our bedroom one night and came into the family room with me. Lily was crying loudly and I thought, “let her cry to sleep.” Then it stopped. Michael and me are watching something on tv when suddenly Lily is crawling in the family room. She broke out of her crib. I mean she broke the corner of the crib to get out, fell to the floor and crawled to us. She couldn’t walk yet. That’s my “Lily” of the field. She’s like, Bamm-Bamm Rubble in the Flintstones, the super-strong toddler of Barney and Betty Rubble”, I used to say.
Lily’s dad called her Cookie. She was raised from birth as a Jehovah’s Witness and was such a wonderful child. So intelligent and well mannered and dressed. She would ask me, “how do you know it’s the truth Mom?” She always wanted to study the Bible with all of our friends. She really pursued friendships, being an only child, and has so many friends and acquaintances since. I always had a birthday cake for her birthday and something special for every holiday and occasion for Lily, although Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate anything. I wasn’t going to deprive her of anything. Our home was on an acre. It was a 3200 sq. ft. ranch with a diving pool and two guest houses across the street from her elementary school. We owned the original Arrowhead Ranch home which was there before Union Hills Drive was. Her dad always walked her across to school.
I know I was extremely over protective of her. I didn’t want her to go through all the harm I did. I protected my precious Tweetsie, Lily. I always had an at home business and no one ever took care of Lily, but me and her Dad. We had an outstanding property in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana and in Lake Forest, Illinois too. I was always investing our hard earned money into real estate. I’m driven. I get bored easy. I’m an entrepeneur and Lily lived and learned through it all.
I never pushed her in her school work because I knew she “got-what-it-takes.” I was right too. She asked me a couple of times, “Mom, why didn’t you push me more?” In her last semester at ASU majoring in secondary education, she took six classes. Out of all six classes, she received all A’s and A+ and one B +. I asked her what’s up with the B+ ? Lily said it was a boring history of the Tudors class. She worked as a librarian too through university. Her first job, when she didn’t have to work, was at McDonalds. She saved enough money to buy her first car. She was born driven, like me.
Something about Lily, though that is interestingly different. She picked up the clarinet like a pro and then had piano lessons and picked it up fast too. Then she said, “Mom, I just want to be a normal kid. I don’t want to learn piano.” I didn’t push her. It’s her life, not mine. I didn’t want her to be stressed. At age 14 she started falling asleep at the Kingdom Hall meetings and decided she didn’t want to go anymore. This was very gut wrenchingly hard and sad for me. I let her be Lily. Her chose.
Something I feel regret about though is Lily’s grandma, Jane Kelly, my mother. My mother asked me to name Lily with her name in it. I had already picked Lily because of the scripture about the “lilies of the field,” how they do not toil and grow without laboring or spinning and are more beautifully arrayed than King Solomon in all his glory. (Matthew 6:28-30 and Luke 12:27-28) i regret that I didn’t call her Jane Kelly, and then nicknamed her Lily. My mother was a strong, intelligent Irish woman who suffered a lot during her marriage to my dad, and deserved to be honored for all her hard work raising children. My mother was loving and very kind always to me. I miss her a lot.
One crazy thing that Lily did that makes me laugh, but other parents would have gone ballistic. We lived in secluded acres. Lily had a classmate that lived in secluded acres too. I forget her name, but I’m sure they’re still friends. One late night the door bell rings. I get out of bed and I go to the door and Lily and a police officer are standing there. Lily’s friends parents had just purchased a brand new Jaguar car. Lily and her friend took the Jaguar out for a joy ride in the middle of the late night. Thank you Lord, the police caught them. Somebody could have been killed. The officer politely dropped Lily off at the door and left. I told Lily to go to bed. Maybe I should have read an owners manual on raising a daughter. No one prepares you for this stuff.
My Lily of the field turned out great. I knew she would. She now has a masters degree in History and has been a high school history, government, and economics teacher in different schools. She’s a “tough cookie,” my daughter, Lily.
It was always different for me. I’m the only Christian in my family. My family is Christian by name only. Lily was raised with the Bible from infancy. She doesn’t discuss any of it at all with me. She’s Lily of the fields. I know her Creator very well, and I know that Jesus will see her through it all.