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Musings of a woman who left her corporate career to become a caregiver for elderly parents, wrote a book and found her way back to corporate - with love, instead of fear, leading the way. Now working at my Alma Mater, UC Irvine, as Marketing and Communications Director for the School of Biological Sciences.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Lindsey Forever 21


Hard to believe our niece and "rent-a-kid," Lindsey, is 21 this week. Gary and I have been reminiscing about all the fun times we have spent with "Linz." I started babysitting for her when she was two and I had just moved back to Newport Beach from Honolulu. Bruce wasn't really keen on having kids around, but he fell in love with Lindsey, mostly because she was so GOOD. Not long after we moved, Lindsey was diagnosed with a serious chronic blood disease, ITP, which affects blood platelets in a way similar to leukemia. She was in and out of hospitals dozens of times from the time she was two until she was in her teens. Our family learned a lot about immuno-globulin. We now think she may have outgrown the disease; if not, she may need to have her spleen removed some day, now that she's an adult.

The reason I mention this is that her experience of being a child with a chronic disease made her even more magical than she was as a baby. She's always been wise beyond her years, creative, intelligent and tons of fun. Bruce could see that from the moment she arrived to stay with us for a few days while her parents, John and Nancy, went on a short vacation. I relished every moment of that weekend as she learned how to deal with wildcat Poudre (we would say, "Poudre pets you; you don't pet him" and Linz would repeat it over and over - but that way he didn't bite or scratch her) and accompanied me to work at Disneyland not once, but twice.

When we moved to Colorado, five year-old Lindsey flew to Denver by herself to join us for a week at our mountain home. She got to ride a big mule named Munchy who lived in our neighborhood, and to watch the llamas who lived on the property of another friend just down the dirt road from our house. We bought her red cowboy boots, a broomstick skirt and a cowboy hat and took pictures of her sitting on the fence in front of the cabin. She was learning to read then, and we'd sit and read books every night before she went to sleep. She never complained about ANYTHING.

After Bruce died, Lindsey and her parents came to Colorado to help me move from the mountains to my new home in Parker, a Denver suburb, closer to my office. They made what could have been a dreadful event seem like a fun adventure. Unfortunately, the following year, Lindsey's parents divorced. Lindsey came for a week that summer and was more subdued than in the past. We talked about how life changes, sometimes in a bad way, but the pendulum always swings back and it gets better. I introduced her to my new boyfriend, Gary, and she immediately began calling him "Uncle G." He called her "Cupcake" (and still does today). She was a junior bridesmaid at our wedding in 1999, along with her cousin, Shannon. They did a special dance at the reception that they choreographed themselves to a Backstreet Boys number and were a big hit!

Lindsey came to CO for a whole month in the summer of '99. She was 11 years old. We went to the Florida Keys and took Lindsey and her girlfriend, Sydney, to swim with dolphins in Isla Morada, see Hemingway's home in Key West, sample Cuban food at Ricky Martin's restaurant and observe topless sunbathers on South Beach in Miami. Such good influences we are. Gary took Lindsey with him on his rounds as a real estate appraiser, called her his "scribe," and paid her $5/hour for her work. She taught him the words to "Bootylicious" and "Lady Marmalade" which they insisted on singing at the dinner table. We went to Minneapolis to visit Cory at college and Cory became Lindsey's "big brother." Lindsey stayed with us for a month every summer for about five years and even spent a fabulous 10-day Easter vacation in London and Paris with us and Cory and Emilie when she was 13.

I am profoundly privileged to be Lindsey's "Auntie Shannie." She brightens my life in the simplest and best ways - even just hearing her voice on the phone brings me up. Gary feels the same way about being her "Uncle G." She's just a delightful soul. She looks like the actress Anne Hathaway now - stunning! And she works at Nordstrom's flagship store in Seattle, as well as on campus at a ticket sales office while carrying a full load of classes at University of Washington. She and her boyfriendf, Nels, are both in their final year of playing in the Husky Marching Band. We're happy to be able to celebrate our Cupcake's "Forever 21" birthday with her this week and looking forward to attending her graduation from UW this coming spring. We are very proud of her. Happy Birthday DEAREST Lindsey!

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Awww. Thanks for the birthday message! It made me cry.

4:28 PM  

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