Laura is 40!

40 years ago yesterday we welcomed Laura Ruth Vanderkam into our lives.  Her first name was similar to my mother's name Lyda (which my mother never liked!) and her middle name was the same as Jim's mother's middle name. She was my littlest baby at 7 pounds 2 ounces and after she was born,  I was so thrilled that I told Jim we should have six more!

That didn't last.  By the time Laura was three weeks old, she weighed ten pounds and I was exhausted.  That exhaustion lasted for two years and the sleepless nights made me struggle with depression.  Laura would not take a bottle.  The hours that I worked could be long ones for Jim--and Laura too!  I sometimes fantasized about breaking a leg so I could go to a hospital and rest.

But she was such a pleasant cheerful baby during the day.  By the time she was two years old, she was speaking long sentences and singing songs like "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New You!"  That was very appropriate for me at the time!

Right after that Christmas, we traded lives with Peter and Else Coxon and their two boys.  This meant we lived in their house in St. Andrews, Scotland and Jim taught at the university there.  They lived in our house in Raleigh, North Carolina and Peter taught at NCSU.  It was a time for a happy new me! It was a wonderful season in a beautiful place of the world.  Laura became a little Scottish lassie as she gained vocabulary like nappies and crisps.

As she grew up, Laura had many interests and in some ways we could have predicted her future as a writer and a public speaker.  She loved writing and wrote volumes.  She loved singing and dancing on stage and was in church and school and community productions.  I don't know that we would have predicted a fairly early marriage for her and subsequently four children.  She was certainly a very independent young woman!  However she tops her list of accomplishments at age 40 with marrying a good man and having spirited children!  There were many professional accomplishments as well with several books, a Ted talk, a blog and a weekly podcast.  Soon there will be a daily five minute podcast on productivity sponsored by her publisher Penguin Press.

So many memories.  My gift to her was a photo album I entitled Life of Laura.  I really made it for her children so they could enjoy seeing their mother as a very rotund infant, a swim team member, a cheerleader, a dancer in fish net stockings, a bride and a mother of each one of them as a newborn.  I think they did enjoy it.

To celebrate we had a lovely six course dinner thanks to Michael at a place in downtown Philly called Talulah's Daily.  It was chef's choice with seasonal features and it was unusual and delicious.

We felt very grateful to be able to be here to celebrate with Laura and her family.  May she have many more happy, healthy, productive years!