I’m on the ferry right now, taking the 7 am boat to meet a women in uptown Manhattan to buy a bag. Crazy huh? But not just any bag; a Louis Vuitton bag. Yeah there it is. It’s a “Speedy” or doctors bag. In a size and monogram that I don’t have. Those that know me know I am a bag whore. I’ve posted about this issue before. I’ve managed to score at the thrift store nice designer bags and sell them to fund my next personal acquisition. That’s not to say I sell all my thrift finds, there’s quite a few I won’t part with. Well, not right away. Never say never.

There are bags that Tommy has bought me that I couldn’t part with. Especially my “I quit smoking bag”. It’s a Louis Vuitton. Tommy challenged me at the end of the school year about 10 years ago. He said, “I’ll buy you a Louis Vuitton bag if you quit smoking!” I was like “You’re on!” I quit cold turkey and the first 3 days are the worst, that’s how long it takes the nicotine to leave your system. I had pretty bad anxiety so I cleaned: A lot. I cleaned out closets, parts of the attic, cabinets…Thomas thought all the cleaning was great! He was a big help taking garbage bags outside and getting me new ones. I don’t remember much else about that time oddly enough. No wait I wanted to crawl out of my skin and be someone else while feeling like that. I also remember feeling strong that I could beat cigarettes, I wasn’t going to let it break me. Plus if I slipped up I’d have to start those three days of detox over again, no thank you.

So I quit all those years ago and never looked back. I’m glad Tommy threw that challenge at me. I don’t know if I would have quit on my own, I enjoyed smoking. But that’s over now. I’m on the 6 train now going uptown to see a woman about her Louis. Let’s hope it’s all it should be and more.

Our middle daughter Daniella (Lelly) has graduated with her bachelors degree from FIT. Not only is she finished but she finished a semester early, she’s only 21 years old. We are so very proud of her. I’m not surprised Lelly finished college quickly. Not much about this child of mine was on the slow side. When I was in labor with her I remember the contractions were so intense and I had to walk from the elevator to the birthing suite. The walk seemed to get longer with every step. When I finally reached the birthing suite the midwife told me to get on the bed so she could check me and I remember having one hand on the bed and felt Lelly descending, I started yelling “She’s coming! She’s coming NOW!!“ and the midwife literally caught my Lelly while I was still standing. Lelly was my smallest baby so we referenced her to a bird. Due to her size. Thomas gave her the nickname Lelly because he couldn’t say Daniella so she was often called “Lelly bird” or simply “the bird”.

Fast forward to Lelly as a toddler about 2-3 years old. She used to think it was a whole lot of fun to run down the street to the corner and give no indication of stopping. So I would be chasing her down the block on a regular basis. It was a relief when she learned to ride her tricycle because she was a bit older and she was taught to stop at the corner. One of my neighbors said she learned to ride a tricycle so she could move even faster than running.

I feel privileged to be blessed with the children I’ve been loaned by our Lord to raise up to adults. All 4 are very different people even though they lived under the same roof and received DNA from the same 2 parents. God saw to it that they are all their own persons. With unique individual gifts and attributes. Wanting to move fast is one of Lelly’s gifts. She didn’t fool around at college she doubled up on credits and simply got the job done…early.

My girl came into this world on her own terms…fast! I have full confidence in her that she will chose the next steps in her life as seriously as she performed in her college life and without hesitation.

Love you my Bird.