Alexis Sage Fulton

Seventeen years ago, I myself was just seventeen. Brad and I lived at the East
Plains, which happens to be one of the places I felt the most at home. It is peaceful and quaint, and full of family history. If only those walls could talk...
At that time, I was working at Producers Coop Elevator in Floydada. Although I was obviously pregnant, everyone in the family, including me, seemed to be in total denial of the impending birth. All of us except for Ma.
She busied herself with making me maternity dresses to wear to work, which without I would've had absolutely nothing to wear. She also forced me to drink milk everyday for lunch. And when she was out of milk, she mixed up some powdered milk and tried to force that down me. Back then, this drove me completely crazy, but now I've come to appreciate immensely all that she's done.
Moving on...
June 29, 1992....
I left work mid-morning because what I thought were contractions had worsened considerably. When I arrived home, Brad was in the yard doing yard work. He had just been stung my a wasp and was convinced that his pain was much more severe than mine.
Nonetheless, he drove me to the hospital. I ate a bag full of plums on the way.
Alexis Sage Fulton was born that afternoon around 2:45pm. She arrived in this world the same way she's always seemed to move through her life...absolutely effortlessly.
I wasn't sure about her name, but Brad was adamant that she be called Sage. I'm so glad he was.
When Sage was born and they placed her in the bassinet next to me, she turned her little head toward me and started cooing and making all kinds of baby noises. She's been a gifted speaker since day one.
To borrow a popular phrase...I was in shock and awe of the child. And to this day, I still am.
Happy 17th Birthday, Baby Girl!
I love you.