Today, Rachel turns 22. The week of her birthday, I usually find myself reflecting a lot on years gone by. We have had some standout birthday bashes to celebrate this girl. From ladybug, Veggie Tales, Elmo, Hannah Montana, Build-a-Bear, Pump-it-Up, Lizzie McGuire themed parties, to New York City for Wicked, Mary Poppins, and the Lion King, to Disney Cruises, Theatre in the Park, Chicago for Hamilton, Alamo Drafthouse for Wonder Woman, and one or two dance parties, we have celebrated. Though hard to pick a personal favorite, my vote goes to the Disney Cruise.

We tried to explain to Rachel that when you get to be an adult, you don’t usually have such lavish celebrations. Her response, no joke, was “You are so funny.” That says a lot.

This year’s birthday is different. She is a young woman with a boyfriend who lives in another town that just happens to be close to our beloved Razorbacks. We all get something we want because we get to watch our baseball team try to win the Super Regionals and head back to the College World Series, and she gets to spend time with her boyfriend who is also a huge Razorback fan. Any of you who knows us and know how passionate we are about our Hogs and the University of Arkansas, know that the boyfriend loving the Hogs is kind of mandatory.

She thanked us several times for giving her the gift of seeing her boyfriend and getting to sit out in the 100+ degree heat index to watch “my Super Hogs.” Rachel is not much for heat or sweat so this is a telling statement. We often say she has led a Forrest-Gumpesque kind of life. Proof: ESPN 2 caught her dancing in the stands during Friday night’s game, and our phones lit up with messages from people saying “we saw Rachel on tv!”

I have thought about the day she was born. A beautiful pink bundle of joy who came out screaming with her hands raised. My dear friend Vanessa said she came out praising the Lord. I said, “Oops, silly me, I thought she was calling the Hogs.” The weekend festivities seem perfectly appropriate to me. In these 22 years, Rachel has tackled many challenges with courage. She has left a few people who had no vision, low expectations, no ability to think outside of the box in a trail of dust. More often than not, her infectious smile, joy, fierce determination, stubborn resolve, hard work, and persistence have magnetized people, and we have a trail of “Friends of Rachel” on her team.

I bought her Paris pop-up card for her birthday because she loves the idea of Paris (romance and all that stuff you know). Once again I will sign it with the words, I am so glad God chose me to be your mom, and I will ALWAYS love you more.

Happy birthday Rachel.

PS – Super Hogs won game 1 and lost game 2. Championship game will be played today. If everything works out just right, they will secure their spot in the College World Series and win for Rachel about 8:41 PM, which is when she was born 22 years ago. #WPS #GoHogs