The "My Little Sweetheart!" Story

It was an ordinary day. Fourth of July and we are getting ready for some fireworks. And ... boy did we get them. In the form of a daughter. Our daughter, Brynn Ann, was born at 5:54 AM. A "Firecracker." Weighed 9 lbs, 9 ozs. Born at the Lancaster General Hospital and I saw her arrive in the world. What an experience for all of us. Later that day I brought Carol a bowl of homemade ice cream that we made at the evening picnic at mom and dad's house. She was an active little girl. She fell into one of our chairs in the dining room at age two and got a pretty nice shiner. Carol and I were sure people would think that we abused her. Broke her arm at age four when she fell off of the new activity set in the back yard. Was going across the monkey bars and lost her hold and fell to the ground. She shared a bedroom with her older brother Derek for a few years until her younger brother Tad arrived, then she got the second floor rear bedroom to herself as the boys moved to the third floor. I built her a bed with a desk and shelves below and the sleeping quarters on the top. She loved the bed. In elementary school she got in trouble one day when she took a hammer and nails to school to try to get into the boy's locker room from the girl's locker room. Got caught, naturally! Had to walk around for a week with a block of wood with nails in it as her punishment. In ninth grade she was cleaning one of her display cabinets that held her spoon collection and after taking the glass front off and sitting it on the floor, forgot about the glass and walked right into it. Cut off the top of her second toe. In her junior year she was opening the front door in her bare feet and got it stuck under the door and ended up having her toe nail cut off at the doctors. Also, during her junior year she started dating one of the best athletes on the baseball team. They dated a few times and then Andy was tragically killed in an automobile accident. Life's lessons are sometimes learned the hard way. With the help of her family and friends, she worked her way through her grief. During her high school career she visited Italy with her church youth group, was Mary in the Christmas Pageant at church, was the editor of the yearbook in her senior year, won numerous national awards in the Scholastic Arts and Photography Contest, was the goalie and captain of the field hockey team, played basketball, and was named a Lancaster County All-Star in softball. She had decided that she wanted to be a textile designer and was planning on the Univ. of Delaware until she found that she would have to travel out of the country quite a bit in an occupation like that. At this point in my story I should clue you in that Brynn got homesick easily. REAL EASILY!! She decided on Elementary Education and entered Millersville and roomed with a longtime friend ...... for two weeks. Decided she missed her mother too much and talked us into letting her come home and commute. She did try again in her sophomore year and rented an apartment with another friend. Her junior and senior years she stayed on campus in an old farmhouse with three other friends. It was during this time that she met her husband, Dave. They were married two years after college and moved to Maryland. Dave was a teacher and football coach and Brynn taught elementary school. Then Courtney and Camille arrived. She became a stay-at-homemom for the kids for a few years and is now back in education as an early childhood teacher. She is world famous for her Chocolate Chip Cookies. Just ask anyone who knows her. Brynn has been everything a father could want in a daughter. A sensitive, caring person who is a real charmer. I could go on and on and on. And ..... she learned excellent mothering skills from her mother. Her daughters will someday realize just how lucky they have been to have had her as their mother. Most girls don't realize how good a mother they had until they have children of their own. My daughter may be all grown up now, but to me she will always be "My Little Sweetheart! Luv you, Brynn, Dad. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - pixs fromtop are: Brynn with her brothers Derek and Tad, elementary school photo, holding one of her many pets she had, starting to perfect her cookie skills (notice the long blond hair to her waist), photo of her with her husband Dave, and celebrating her 5th birthday on the 4th of July with daughters Camille and Courtney.