Feb 7, 2009

Kuddoes to Katie!

Yesterday morning at the cheery hour of 4:45 I got a call from a midwifery client. Baby day! I packed my birth "stuff" and headed out the door with scarcely a thought to what would happen while I was gone. I didn't need to be concerned, you see, Katie was at home.

Katie is our oldest daughter. She is 20, now, and while there are those who tease her if she is counting down the days until she can drink, the truth is that for her, the big milestone happened a few years back, when she could vote. She is busy, being our farm manager as well as managing her own small herd of show-quality nubians. She also has her own business, making and selling goat milk soaps, lotions and soy candles.

She is just generally a busy kind of person. And other than my husband, about the only person in the world that I can walk out the door and leave my children with without a moments notice.

I was right. During the day when I was gone she tended to a handful of sick toddlers, did copious amounts of laundry, prepared lunch for the family plus for the young man from our church who was there volunteering manual labor for the dairy, fixed lunch for our neighbors who are down with the flu, ran errands finding supplies for the guys who were working and generally kept everyone clothed, fed and happy. I missed her at the birth (she is also a fantastic midwifery assistant and labor support person extraordinaire) but it was so comforting to be able to focus on the needs of the laboring mom without having a minutes doubt that all was going well at home.

There is little I can say to express how this feels except that to have a daughter like Kate is truly a blessing beyond description.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have just started reading your blog and love it! We have a small goat dairy here in Oregon, with six children we are homeschooling (along with a menagerie of other animals). My Ellen is only 12 but I can see her being just like your Katie when she is grown. She is such a blessing to me already. What a wonderful blessing! We are not selling our milk at this time as my husband is worried about a potential lawsuit should someone get sick from our milk. We own our own business and at this time he is not willing to take that risk. I pray someday that will be a possibility for us. I love to see the amazement on a person's face when they taste the milk! Oh, and midwifery is high on my list of where I want to be in a few years. Anyway, enjoying your blog.