Meet Celimar

This is my beautiful friend Celimar.

Celimar came from AZ to visit us during Thanksgiving break. She is and has been a very good friend of mine for a very long time. She is like family. You see, I have known her for her entire 23 years of life. I met her as a beautiful tiny newborn the day she came home from the hospital. I was, gulp, 13 years old. I was her babysitter until the day I moved to Madison, WI in January of 1992 to continue my college endeavours. Whether close by or from far away, I have had the privilege of knowing this girl and seeing her develop into the amazing human being that she is today.

It was absolutely awesome having her visit. The last time we saw her was almost 7 years ago at our wedding. And her transformation from teen to woman has been amazing. But I must confess that initially I had this overwhelming need to protect her, as if she was still the little girl I was so frequently entrusted with way back when.

Sometimes while enjoying some drinks together during her visit it felt so incredibly weird, almost as if I was encouraging underage drinking. The fact that she is a Master's student is baffling to me. Also, the fact that she has a boyfriend pretty much blows me away. Did I mention that she's 23 years old? But, can I help it that I still see the innocent little girl she once was? Yeah let me tell ya, I have never felt older than I did this last week.

This was the first time that she met the kids and to say that they both adored her is a gross understatement. Every time Sam saw her he had this huge grin on his face, almost of a flirtatious nature. He's gonna be trouble, that little one. But then again, she is quite a stunning beauty. And Isabella? Oh, she was all over Celi the entire time she was here. They played and danced and colored and jumped until they could do no more. It was such an unbelievable blessing to see her with my children and to see them love her so much, so quickly.

Thank you for coming to visit us, Celi. We hope you had as much fun as we did and we can't wait to see you again. Hmmm, maybe a nice little trip to AZ next year?

We love you!