Heart strings

When I was a little girl, I loved being in the spotlight. I always sat on the front row during class. When a question was asked, even if I did not know the answer, I would raise my hand high and grunt or say, "Oh, oh, oh!" From preschool up to college I was obsessed with dancing and lived for the performances. I entered my high school's beauty pageant three of the four years. I did not enter because I thought I was pretty, but because I loved the excitement and warmth of being under the stage lights. I was at home there. I was an extreme extrovert and gained energy and enthusiasm and creativity from being around others.

After I got married, my desire to be seen and heard all of the time subdued with age. I still enjoy being the emcee or event coordinator for little events, I enjoy striking up conversations with complete strangers, and I even love those silly ice-breaker games at parties than no one else seems to enjoy. But I am equally happy listening, thinking and not being recognized. Many of my favorite past times require no one else. My husband, who used to be an extreme introvert, has rubbed off on me and we

have some how met right in the middle.

So it should come as no great shock that I now have a child who reflects my own personality. If one becomes a parent of a handful, eventually I think most people find one of their children to be a mirror into their own soul. God just seems to work it out this way, as I see it. This little being will bring out the heights of joy and the depths of frustration. She will receive no more love, because sometimes the other children who are so mysterious and interestingly different will actually be easier to love and because all three have my heart completely. But there is a unique heart string connection. That is what I have with my Lydie. She is me in so many ways.