TRUE – my daughter, Angela, is a October baby. Lots of COLOR in her life – fun, vibrancy, creative passion for teaching, beautiful relationships with her friends and family. She always challenges those who know her, to reach high to achieve and live out their best. Love surrounds this woman with her influence for living God’s very highest purpose. What JOY she is to everyone!

Every life has a story and her beginnings are worth telling. Many of her friends and family may not know she almost died in my womb before her sudden C-section birth. She was caught in the trauma of preeclampsia, a condition of pregnancy which cruelly turns deadly upon a baby in the womb. It was a toxic fight for life for both mother and baby for sure. Perhaps, that is why she is a born warrior by nature; not only a survivor, but keen fighter for others, too.

The immense relief I experienced after twelve hours of unconscious silence. The nurse introduced our 5lb baby girl, our Angel, and laid her upon a pillow because I was too weak to hold her. That moment of victory changed our lives forever.

The fight was fierce to give birth which ended with a blood clot to my heart, an infarction. How does a previous healthy, young woman eager to be a new mother leave hospital as a 21-year old survivor of a heart attack? … Grateful to be alive, weak, but forever holding her most prized possession for her fight for motherhood.

Every year, like so many mothers, I relive the grateful joy of this October Birthday, and I fully understand that life is truly a gift. It doesn’t come without cost and sacrifice, but the years of watching her legacy develop is awe-inspiring.

Happy Birthday sweetheart! Continue your fight for justice, your advocacy for children, and your adventurous love for life. You have earned your wonderful influence in the lives of others. You are not one who walks on the air of entitlement, but instead continues to grow in the confidence of your God- given identity. The world needs strong compassionate women.

~ Written by a proud mother: Judy Wolcott Cline