Treasure Tuesday

It's time, again, for Treasure Tuesday brought to you by Faith. Be sure to let her know if you play today.

As you can tell these are baby booties. BLUE baby booties. They sit on Adam's dresser these days, but they originally belonged to Jacob. A lady I worked with while I was pregnant with him gave them to me. They are the first blue things I ever received for him after finding out he possessed the wrong parts. You see we were having a girl. Her name was Grace Elizabeth and we couldn't wait to meet her. We were so sure we were having a girl we almost declined the gender announcement at our 24 week ultrasound. Imagine our complete surprise when the technician pointed out as soon as she turned the machine on "It's a boy!" I remember how I ceased to hear anything for a few moments and my heart dropped to my feet. She had to be wrong..BUT there "it" was, even a technological fool such as myself could not have mistaken what that was. I am embarrassed now to even admit this, but I was devastated, not at first because I was in awe of seeing a moving, put together person inside of me and thrilled that he was healthy, but after a few days, I started to stress. I had a sister, my cousins were girls, all my friends had girls, WHAT was I going to do??? At that time I was one of eight pregnant ladies at my school. One by one they would come in and announce they were having girls and my heart would sink further. WHY was I having a boy when I so wanted a girl?

I don't think I ever let on at school that I was disappointed not having a girl, but one day, a teacher I did morning hall duty with presented me with these beautiful booties, out of the blue (no pun intended) wrapped in blue tissue paper. See, this teacher had daughters and years before knitted these booties in hopes she would have a boy to put them on. That day never came, so she gave them to me. I think, from her own experience, that she knew I needed a boost about my boy and you know, they did help me. I slowly started loving baby blue (and I still do) and I never had as much fun as having that group baby shower where I was the only one with balls and frogs and overalls. As the weeks went on, which weren't many because Jacob arrived eight weeks after that ultrasound, I warmed up to the idea of having a boy. I felt special that I was the only one in the family with one and excited that I could buy matchbox cars and Thomas engines (little did I know). I carried these booties to the hospital with me, not knowing how our premature birth would turn out. In all honesty, driving there that night I pictured burying my son in them, but he came out kicking and screaming and we kept those booties on him every night in that NICU, at least tried to....we knew he was doing well when he learned to kick them off. Once he came home, the booties were history, no keeping them on him, so they sat propped on his dresser, that has now become Adam's dresser. I love to see them there reminding me that Jacob's size 11 feet really were once too small to fit in them and they remind me of how different my life would have been if I didn't have that little bit of baby blue in them. Sadly, I cannot remember the teacher's name who gave them to me, my mom was right, I needed to write all that stuff down, but I am grateful to her for these booties. They were just what I needed.