She’s 14.
Last Friday, October 20, Sarah Alice Potts, our baby and my baby girl celebrated her 14th birthday. It doesn’t seem possible but, it is.
You know, it’s coming… yes, I’m going to walk down memory lane a little.
I remember when she was born. King’s Daughter’s Hospital in Brookhaven, Miss. In all honesty, I kind of wanted another boy. You know… another little ball player. I wanted a girl but I wanted the girl to be the fourth child. Well, the girl came on the third try and Holli said that was the last try!
We moved to the coast of Mississippi when she was six months old so Sarah basically grew up there. From the beginning, she sounded like a southern girl when she talked. She had a little southern drawl.
She played t-ball, upward basketball, was a “shheerrleadduurr”(cheerleader) for pee wee football. She went to tumbling and dance and all the other stuff little girls do. When she was 5 she played t-ball baseball with the boys. She was the prettiest one out there and… she made All-Stars! I remember feeling “pumped” when she went into the game to play second base. They hit one to her and she caught it! She was as good as the boys and prettier!
Moving to Georgia was a little tough on her. She left her friends behind and had to start over. I didn’t anticipate how tough it would be. But, thank the Lord, after making the cheerleading squad at HJMS for two years and the 7th grade basketball team she has made some friends and is doing better.
I look at her today and she is becoming a “young lady.” She wears make-up now. Her older brother, Robert, doesn’t like that. He kind of wants to “can her” and keep her as the little girl. Now that I think about it, that’s not a bad idea! Just kidding.
She has a lot of her mother in her. She looks like Holli but she gets her height from my mom. She is level headed like her mother. She has an ability to stay above stuff when she needs to and discern what’s really important. I’m proud of her for that.
She and I have had an opportunity to “bond” a little over the years because I’ve always taken her to school. On our drives to school, we talk and laugh and sometimes cry.
When she was little, the teachers used a discipline system that involved little bears. If you mis-behaved in class, you got your bear covered. That wasn’t a good thing. You didn’t want your bear to be covered.
So, when I would pick Sarah up in the “parent pick up” line she would get in the truck and one of the first things she would often say was “Zero baaauuurrsss (bears) covered.” That was her way of saying she didn’t get in trouble that day.
Sarah Alice and I have had fun. We have laughed, we have made funny faces we have done impersonations. She laughs at me when I find something funny and she doesn’t have a clue why I think it’s funny. Ha!
When she was little, I would tuck her in and she would say, “Huggy hug, Kissy kiss.” I would hug her and put my little girl to bed.
Sarah Alice, I wish you could stay a little girl for about 20 more years. But, that’s wouldn’t be right. I have to let you grow up. You will be a wonderful Christian lady.
So, baby girl, “Huggy hug, Kissy kiss…” Daddy loves you and is very proud of you.
Happy 14th birthday!