All Growed Up

Two weeks ago, my family left Lucy at Sonoma State and headed up to University of Portland to drop off Maggie. Can they really be 18 and nearly 20? It's hard for me to imagine when up until just a few years ago we referred to them collectively as "The Babies"! Having Maggie in Belgium this year was like putting life on fast forward: in my mind she was somewhere around nine years old...and suddenly there was a nineteen-year-old Maggie staying at my house! Next time I see Lucy I'm sure something similar will happen.

I skyped her in her dorm room (well it's actually a full-blown apartment!) the day my parents and Maggie were helping her move in. She confessed being nervous, but she also looked excited. I got the virtual tour of the place: two bedrooms, a living room, full kitchen, toilet and bathroom (in separate rooms--good thinking!). Aside from being completely envious of her set-up--my tiny little room in Clark couldn't hold a candle to this luxury--I was so excited for her.

Lucy is the baby... No matter how tall she gets, she will always be our baby. When I was ten, Lu Lu was born. She was a scheduled cesarean birth and therefore we could all be plenty prepared ahead of time for her June 4th arrival. I wanted to be in birthing room with my mom and dad. After an interview with my mom's doctor and the director of the hospital, they agreed to let me join my dad so long as I watched some prescribed videos about birth and cesareans. They wanted to be sure I was knew what to expect.

When the day came, my dad and a nurse showed me how to scrub down with iodine. I wasn't pleased with the dark yellow-brown foam I had to scrub up to my elbows. We dressed in blue and green doctor's scrubs and covered our heads with little white shower caps. This was serious. I was the first child present at a sibling's birth at General Hospital in Eureka.

We were directed into the room where my mom was lying on a bed. A curtain was hung so that we couldn't see below her waist. She smiled at us and squeezed each of our hands. I was nervous. I knew this didn't hurt her because they'd given her a shot to make her numb from the waist down...but still. After just a minute or so the doctors brought Lucille Marcelle into the world.

"Go ahead," a nurse said to me, "Have a look." I peeked around the curtain and saw my baby sister for the first time.

"She's all white!" I exclaimed. The videos hadn't prepared me for the creamy, white vernix that would be covering my sister. I had seen Maggie shortly after birth, Emily and I foot-printed her, but the nurses had cleaned her up some and she only had a little bit of white goo in the creases around her neck and ears--Lucy was completely covered! Of course my outburst provoked laughter from the doctors and nurses present. I was so embarrassed.

...And now eighteen years later that tiny little baby who was covered in white goop has moved out of the house and is making her own way. I feel a little like a parent. I'm excited for her when I remember all the great times I had in college; but I'm nervous and scared at the same time because I remember how lonely I felt my first semester.

I know she'll be fine... and I know she knows she's got two big sisters watching out for her.

I love Lucy.