Saturday 12 May 2012

21

My daughter is now 21...or she will be on Tuesday. Her main celebration will be with friends in a club /bar /den of iniquity sort of place, in Liverpool. I will be having an airport breakfast with her, prior to my flight back to France.

So....I have a really grown up daughter.....she has always been a brilliant friend as well as a daughter. I remember thinking she would need to be about 16 before she would be a good shopping or watching rubbish on TV companion.....but she surpassed herself and has been my favourite shopping & TV friend since she was about 9 !
Jess, celebrating being 18
Finding myself pregnant ( at 36) all those years ago was a bit of a shock. I have always told Jess, she was definitely not a mistake...but she was an accident....or at least she wasn’t intentional. However, from the second I realised I was pregnant I was ecstatic. Never having considered getting pregnant, I never expected it.... but it was amazing. Luckily, Mark, already a father to 2 brilliant children (then 10 and 11, living half with us and half with their mother and her partner) was equally delighted....and we began considering how things would be different. We had intended to travel, and decided that we would continue with those plans. Jess was born 5 weeks early, but when she was only 9 weeks old, we went to Wisconsin for 3 weeks......she was a very small 9 week old baby, but coped brilliantly with the transatlantic flight.... and she has never looked back.
Jess is an adventurer, with a passion for her family and friends. She loves nothing better than getting different groups of her friends together. Next week, In France, she will be there with a young woman she shares a house with in Liverpool, who she met 2 years ago, a friend from 6th form college, from 5 years ago and a friend she met at her pre school nursery, when she was actually only 5 months old.

Jess celebrating Ireland
Jess and friends ( 2 of them coming to France with her).....just celebrating....

This is typical of her.....and I know we will have a wonderful time. It will be particularly special for her, as her sister, brother in law to be ( wedding in September), one of her nephews and her 10  week old niece will be joining us.....nothing could be better for Jess, than family and friends, together....on an adventure. Actually, the only thing that could be better would be if her boyfriend,her dad, and her brother and sister in law with their 2 boys could be with us at the same time. My husband, Mark will be in England working, while she is with me...so that is going to be strange for me too.

The  pregnancy, 21 years ago, was a difficult one, and I spent the last 11 weeks of it in hospital with pre-eclampsia..... but the birth was normal, and we were ejected from the hospital within 3 days of her birth....both entirely fit and healthy. That was 21 years ago on Tuesday, and I can honestly say that my life since then has been thoroughly enriched, enhanced, perfected, and completed by her existence.

Happy Birthday Jess.
Jess and Freni ( friend since Nursery at 5 months old) celebrating life.

14 comments:

  1. What a wonderful tribute to not only Jess at 21 years, but to you as a mother, Janice. Congratulations and happy birthday to Jess. I love these pictures. They remind me of our own girls at those stages in life and I sit her on another raining day, smiling.

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    1. Thanks Penny, sorry its still raining with you....but it does help make things green ! Jess is an amazing daughter...and I'm only ever so slightly biased....just as I should be.

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  2. Oh Janice, I honestly remember your pregnancy almost as well as my own and I know you certainly did not have it easy! You took it all in your stride and Jess is very much your daughter. I know every single word you write is true - there really is a very special and wonderful relationship between you and your exceptional daughter. I wish her a very happy 21st.
    Axxx

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    1. Thanks Annie... I am so lucky....to have had her in the first place...still not sure how that happened ! and for her to be the delight that she is. I know how lucky I am and appreciate it every day. But then I know someone else who has been similarly lucky....3 times ..... although I'm sure you once told me you wanted 5. Thanks for the birthday wishes. Jxxx

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  3. What a gorgeous daughter and very loving post, Janice. Many happy returns to Jess and I hope you all have a wonderful time when she's with you. There's something so special about a daughter, isn't there?

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    1. Thanks Perpetua...as I always knew my pregnancy, when it occurred, was going to be a "one off"....I thought long and hard about whether I wanted a boy or girl. ( I was lucky enough to have part shares in Mark's other 2 gorgeous kids...so I had it all really)...but I knew, really, I wanted a girl...something about carrying on the female line of a family where the women who came before me were incredibly special. So yes....there is something special about daughters... J.

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  4. What a lovely girl your daughter looks - full of fun and happiness. Birthday greetings to Jess on her 21st, and hope you all have a great time in France together.

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    1. Thanks Rosemary....I have no doubt at all that we will have a great time together in France. I recently discovered that she has 3 trips over to France planned this summer....and this will be the first. Thanks for your birthday wishes. J.

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  5. Janice...What a beautiful daughter you have. She looks like she enjoys life....full of happiness. You are lucky to have such a special daughter, I know because I have one that is one year older then yours. Yes they are great shopping companions.
    "Happy 21st Birthday to your daughter.....enjoy your time with her in France.

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  6. Thanks Erica ( Irene)...she does enjoy life....and appreciates it too, long may that continue. Thanks again for the birthday wishes. J

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  7. Hi Janice, a very special landmark in which you are rightly proud and enjoying as much as Jess. Congratulations to you both
    Celia x

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  8. Thanks Celia, I have no doubt she will celebrate in appropriate style. Jx

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  9. Beautiful young lady . Happy Birthday to her.

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    1. Thanks BtoB...no doubt she'll have a great time. J

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