Happy Birthday, Kelsey!

 

Kelsey in Jordan.

As I celebrate the 60 women who helped me to 60, I plan to blog about some of them. My mom topped my list, but the beautiful woman who made me a mama is right up there too.

Our daughter Kelsey has always done life on her terms. We laugh about how when she was just three, she would insist she was six years old. That was funny until we were at an amusement park where we had to buy a ticket for our three-year-old because she insisted to the ticket agent that she was six! She was so convincing (and tall for her age!) that we looked like we were trying to skip paying!

Born in Korea, Kelsey attended pre-school in the Netherlands and then elementary school in Germany. We moved back to the United States when she was in the third grade. Maybe those early days abroad helped her to love languages. She took high school French classes while in middle school. In high school, she studied Japanese and Spanish. In college she studied Hebrew before studying Arabic—those studies took her to Beirut, Jordan, and Morocco twice. She also spent a summer in Berlin and three weeks in Korea checking out her birthplace.

Kelsey in Beirut.

Our feisty daughter has never chosen the easy path. What would be the fun in that? While studying at William & Mary, she decided to study Arabic in Beirut. It didn’t matter that her college did not offer an exchange program there or that she would travel there alone the summer of her college freshman year, off she went! She made terrific friends and had amazing experiences. I followed her travel blog until it made me too nervous. I decided it might be easier for me to read it after she was safely home. Some of those adventures included couch surfing in Oman and being driven over a border covertly—I best leave those details for her to share!

Our girl is not only smart, she can run! After doing well in a 5K race in the 5^th grade, she was asked to run with the high school Cross Country team at Fort Campbell, Ky. I had my reservations about our 6^th grader being around older students and about whether she would willingly get up for the 6 AM summer practices. I told her I would not wake her up. She would have to wake me up for a ride. She got us both up every day that summer and competed with the team the next school year—placing at the Regionals and State meets and earning a Varsity letter. She went on to run Cross Country and Track until her high school graduation—racking up many more wins, a second Varsity letter from her Alexandria, VA high school and even serving as the girls’ team captain. She decided not to run in college but continued running for fun—entering 10K races and half marathons, sometimes with her dad and brother.

She continued to choose the more challenging route while working on her master’s thesis at The George Washington University, applying for and being accepted to study Arabic in Morocco for 11 months as a Boren Fellow before completing her masters in Global Communication—while working fulltime at Lockhead Martin as an intel analyst.

Forever a cherished memory!

One of my favorite memories was when I joined her in Morocco for a week to celebrate my 52^nd and her 25^th birthday. I was so impressed (as I continue to be) of her fearlessness in assimilating in foreign countries. When we lived overseas as a military family, we traveled as a family. Our brave, beautiful girl was flying solo. Being Kelsey’s mom has helped me grow and stretch in ways I never would have imagined. I cherish my friendship with our only daughter and am grateful that she has agreed to care for me in my older years—just kidding about that caretaker promise, although I love when she has allowed me to care for her and her family.

One of my great honors was being present for the birth of Kelsey’s first son, Azariah. When Elior was born in Jerusalem, I was not at his birth because I had the honor of caring for Azariah in their apartment, while his mom and dad were in the hospital. What special bonding times with our grandsons.  

Now Kelsey is navigating more unchartered waters, living in Jerusalem with her husband and two young sons during a war. Despite the sadness and fear that situation holds, Kelsey is working full time for a New York City Public Relations firm, while her role as “Ima” has her working hard to ensure that her sons (Elior, 10 months, and Azariah, not-quite-3) have normal, calm, happy lives. That includes potty training! I marvel at all our daughter accomplishes.

An earlier hint that she can accomplish anything happened when Kelsey was in kindergarten. She picked out cute red eyeglasses and despite my warnings that red is such a distinctive color she might tire of her glasses. She assured me she would “love them forever.” Less than halfway through her kindergarten year, her teacher called me to say that the students were fundraising for Kelsey to get new glasses. Ms. Randall politely told me that it was inappropriate for students to be donating to this “cause.” Sure enough, some of Kelsey’s classmates felt sorry for her because she didn’t like her glasses and had decorated cans to collect coins during class. That fundraising effort was quickly and quietly squelched. I must admit, I was proud that she worked to find a solution to her “problem” and that her classmates cared enough about her to want to help.

Kelsey also rallied the troops in 5^th Grade when she started a classroom newspaper, “Norris News.” Her teacher, Julie Norris, told me that she was impressed that the other students “bought into” Kelsey’s idea and took writing assignments from Editor Kelsey. Kelsey went on to be the editor of her high school news magazine in Alexandria, VA.

As a working mom, Kelsey still finds time to make homemade Challah for her family and cook healthy meals. She is studying to perfect her Hebrew and yet despite working long hours, sounds patient and soft spoken with her children—even when things get crazy, and the babysitter is a no-show on a workday full of important meetings. Kelsey is who I aspire to be when I grow up.

I love you and admire you, Kelsey. I don’t believe you are done surprising us with all you will accomplish in your life. I am happy and honored to enjoy a front-row seat!

But Wait! There’s More…

I know every mom thinks this (or should!), but our daughter is gorgeous. I look at her and see movie star glamor. She would laugh at that because she has never thought of herself as beautiful, which makes her even more attractive. She has a quiet, classy, sophisticated beauty. I have always joked (although it is true!) that our children are smarter than us, but they are better versions of ourselves in every way. When Kelsey was little, she loved girly things. Dresses were her go-to clothing item after my mom made her a skirt or as Kelsey called it “a twirly!” I have never been very girly. Make-up? Maybe a smidge. I never learned to French braid or cared about styling my own hair. I don’t currently own a hair appliance. Our daughter is feminine even on days she isn’t “all gussied up.”

Never was this more apparent than at Azariah’s birth. After the hard laboring was over, Kelsey had me help her cover her hair to welcome her son. She then relaxed on the bed in the delivery room, reading Tehillim (Psalms) and praying between contractions. I have never witnessed a more calm, beautiful scene. Her husband, Nimrod, stood and prayed in the corner, while Kelsey prayed and read on the bed. After Azariah made his appearance and was warming on a table, Nimrod leaned down near his son and softly sang a Hebrew song. Azariah turned to look at his father as he sang the song he had sung to his child during Kelsey’s pregnancy. Thank you both for creating such a beautiful memory for me to cherish.

Xoxox MOM