My Three Daughters (-in-Law)

I can't even count the number of times over the years, when I was busy raising my five boys, that people would ask me if I felt I'd been cheated because I never had a daughter.  They would tut-tut and tsk-tsk, thinking I'd been dealt a pretty crummy hand in life--when I always considered myself the luckiest woman on the face of the earth.  I knew it would have been wonderful to have girls in our family, if that's what God had sent us; but I also knew that He always has a plan that is absolutely perfect for each one of His children, and for me, that plan was to be surrounded by little (and now not-so-little!) men.  Daughters would come, I was convinced; someday my sons would bring lovely young ladies home, sweet grown-up gals who'd gone through puberty with their own mothers and would bring my husband and me nothing but happiness (and grandchildren!). 

I thrived in my testosterone-laden household, I really did.  I loved that my guys would air their grievances quickly and move on, instead of brooding and hanging on to things the way we women tend to do.  I watched lots of sports, both on ESPN and in real life. I watched lots of action movies when I might have preferred romantic comedies. I picked up a lot of dirty socks and washed a lot of football uniforms.  I drove my big red 15-seater van hither and yon, carrying not just my own brood, but often my sons' teammates and athletic equipment--dropping off, picking up, dropping off, picking up...I cooked and baked with joy and love, because it's true what they say: the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  I laughed a lot, as those boys developed a way of joking with and poking innocent fun at one another that might not have flown if there'd been more sensitive female children living under our roof.

My sons were really good boys, but they were boys, and they often resembled a pack of yipping puppies when they were young, bounding around and competing over every little thing--especially shotgun privileges every time we went anywhere by car.  But my husband always assured me that one day, I would be surrounded by strong, strapping young men who would walk proudly beside me and protect their mom.  He said they would put me on a pedestal and treat me like a queen (or else!).

Well, that day has come.  Actually, it came quite a few years ago.  My husband's promise to me came true, and then some.  Look at this recent picture, would you?  Who wouldn't want to be me?

At the rehearsal dinner for son #4 and Braveheart, Feb. 21, 2014.

But oh, am I ever blessed, more than I ever deserved to be...because now, along with those five tall, handsome, lovable sons, I have three daughters.  Three girls have joined our family, each one so precious in her own unique way.

First came Regina, a sweet and gentle soul who married our oldest son in December of 2009.  She is the mother of our three granddaughters and in my heart, truly a daughter.  I couldn't love her more if I tried.  She set the bar high when she became the first Pearl girl in our rough-and-tumble clan.

At the wedding of son #4 and Braveheart, Feb. 22, 2014.

But you know how when you're a mother of one and you're expecting your second baby, you love your firstborn so intensely that you sometimes worry that you couldn't possibly love another child as much...and then your heart expands the nanosecond you hear the cries of that newborn?  Well, that's just the way I feel about Preciosa, the second daughter to be added to our string of Pearls when she married son #3 in December of 2013.

Another rehearsal dinner shot.

Again, I feel as if I've truly been given not just another daughter-in-law to love, but another daughter.  This girl exudes enthusiasm and love.  She adores my middle son, and those feelings spill over to include all the members of his family.

And just when I thought my heart couldn't expand any more or it would burst wide open, son #4 married his perfect match, Braveheart, on February 22 of this year.  Like the two daughters-in-law we've been blessed with already, she is a darling young lady with a loving heart.  And she loves my boy so much that she has adopted the rest of us right along with him.

Another wedding shot.

We think we'll keep her!

Just as my husband's prediction about my sons came to pass as he promised, so has my prediction that I would one day be blessed with daughters.  It took a while to get them, but it has certainly been worth the wait.  Just as we wouldn't have wanted our boys to be five cookie cutter replicas of one another, we wouldn't want the girls they chose for mates to be identical either.  And they aren't.  They each bring something special to the table, and we wouldn't have it any other way.