A Re-birth

As you know from looking at and reading this blog, we are anxiously waiting the last 11 days until Scott comes home from his mission. We have been busy preparing. You know how having a deadline gives you something to work toward; well, we (that's the royal we "of course when I say "we", I mean "you") have painted the whole basement, taken the wall paper off in Scott's room and put a new ceramic tile floor and toilet and all new fixtures in the bathroom. Tonight I even folded his laundry, freshly washed and dried. It has been quite a project but a good way to pass the time while counting the days.

Which brings me to my point - Re-birth. Everyone who is a mother remembers the first time they held their babies. That overwhelming feeling of knowing they are healthy, breathing and well. The exhiliration of meeting this new little person for the first time. Personally, this experience has been one of the greatest of my lifetime.

There is only one thing, in my opinion, that can replicate seeing your newborn baby for the first time.

And that is the first moment you see them after their mission. For us, it is (our missionary) walking down the long airport hallway and through big double doors. We strain our eyes looking for a young man in a suit with a halo over his head.

When Richard came home, I ran past airport security (right after 9/11) and almost got arrested. With Ben, I knocked over the big garbage can that was in my way as I ran to greet him. With James, I think I was a little more well behaved, probably because he and the Elder he was with waited at the back of the plane until every single person had departed.

Knowing my family, it will be a time of everyone talking so fast and so much that we can't cram it all into one day. The boys and Jess have planned an evening of "Heavyweights", a favorite childhood movie that Scott quotes all the time. Thank goodness we are heading to the cabin the very next day where we will have Scott all to ourselves for several days.

But every single time, the feeling is the same; that overwhelming feeling of knowing that they are healthy, breathing and well. There is also the added bonus of seeing the young man he has grown into in my absence. The overwhelming relief and joy can only be compared to the moment of their birth.

It is one of the best experiences of my lifetime.