My name is Hazel Juliet Langdon, I'm Twenty-Two Years Old and have just finished attending college, and for the first time, I'm living away from my family, supporting myself with money from my new job as a Psychologist. I feel young and alive, I'm ready now to make bigger choices and I've started doing just that.
I've been dating my boyfriend, Theodore Cato Greyson, who is Twenty-Three Years Old, a year older than me, since I met him three years ago in college, we had a very moviesque experience with him and I bumping into each other at the library. I fell to the floor and both of the books we were studying from fell to the floor and all our research papers were scattered. It was love at first sight though. We've recently moved into an apartment together and I can't wait to see where it will take us.
Hey everyone, it's Hazel. It's been a year since Theodore and I moved in together, though time seems to have flown. Theodore has enlisted in the Army, though he hasn't gone anywhere yet.
After having felt off for a while, I decide to take a pregnancy test, which comes back positive. Just as I was about to tell Theodore the news--which both excites me and scares me a little bit--he says he has something he wants to tell me as well. It doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary until Theodore bends down on one knee and asks me to marry him. Ecstatic, I say yes, and then tell my new fiance the news--We're expecting a child!
The two of us agree to hold off on our wedding until after the baby is born.
Theodore is deployed overseas for most of my pregnancy, but when the day the baby finally comes, he arrives home in the nick of time--just an hour into my labor! I had been afraid he wouldn't make it to the birth of our first child, but relief floods over me as he's there to hold my hand as our beautiful, perfectly healthy baby is born.
The baby is a Boy. Theodore and I decide to name her Archer James Greyson. He's just the most perfect bundle of joy and Theodore and I are thrilled to be his parents, since we're giving him Theodore's last name we agree to give him a middle name that starts with J, just like my own middle name, so that Archie and I can share that.
Hey y'all it's Hazel again and today is the big day! Archer is now two year old, and just a couple months ago we celebrated his second birthday. Archer had a blast. Now, at the ages of 25 and 26, my fiance and I are finally getting married! Archer is going to be the little ring bearer. Our theme is going to be Light Pink and Brown.
The night is a blast. I fall in love with Theodore all over again, just like when we first met. Archer enjoyed dancing to the music, and my parents offered to watch him so you two can have a little honeymoon weekend, though we're sure we'll be worrying like crazy even though he is in the best possible hands.
After a two-hour drive to a hotel on the beach, we arrive at our honeymoon destination. However, the romance is cut short when my stomach is upset. Thinking it's just a bug, we decide to go home, though I feel bad about having to take a rain check on the honeymoon. For the next few days I continue to feel pretty bad, so I make an appointment with my doctor. After a brief examination, the doctor tells me that I'm fine, and confirms what I had already begun to guess--I'm pregnant!
Over the nine months of my pregnancy, Archer cozies up to the idea of having a little brother or sister. When the big day finally comes and you go to the hospital, Archer is practically jumping up and down with excitement as our relatives keep an eye on her. Theodore is by my side--unfortunately, he'll be deployed again in just a couple of weeks--as I give birth to a beautiful, healthy baby.
The baby is a Boy. Theodore and I decide to name him Henry Josiah Greyson. He's just the most perfect angel and Theodore and I are thrilled to be his parents, we name him Henry after my grandfather, Hank Avery Langdon, who passed away last year and, we decide to give him a middle name startign with J just like mine's and Archer's middle names. Archer and the rest of the family adore Henry and we're so glad to have the time with him now, even if it's just a few weeks, before Theodore deploys again.
It's Hazel, although this time with some more sombe news. I'm Thirty Years Old now, Theodore is Thirty-One Years Old, and our children are Seven and Four. I love my family dearly, but sometimes it feels like I'm a single parent with Nathaniel away so much for his job in the military. Theodore has been deployed for just under two months when I receive a letter in the mail.
My worst nightmare. Dear Mrs. Greyson, we regret to inform you... I don't get past the first sentence before tears blur my vision. Theodore has been killed in the line of duty. Family and friends come by and comfort my family, and I stay strong for my children, but I'm heartbroken. My other half is gone.
Just a week after I hear news of my husband's death, I get another unexpected piece of news--but this time it's good. I'm just about two months pregnant. I burst into bittersweet tears, feeling that this child is a blessing but also knowing that her father will never get to see her.
I stay strong, refusing to let myself go in the direction of depression. I love my children fiercely and would never let myself put anything before them, even if it was my own feelings. About seven months after I find out about my pregnancy, I give birth to a seemingly healthy baby. The baby is a Girl. I name her Catherine Jo Greyson, I know Theodore loved the name, we'd discussed it before he left, names we both liked. As I hold my newborn close, crying with joy and with sorrow that Theodore couldn't be there, the doctors check the baby's vitals. she is crying like a normal baby, and opening her eyes, but something seemed different.
After a further examination it appears that Catherine was born blind. I feel awful, as if it was my fault for not having a safer pregnancy, though the doctors assure me there was nothing you could have done about it. It had something to do with genetics, and I remember one of my uncles was born blind. I still love Catherine to the moon and back regardless, and my other children do too, though they become fiercely protective of her, as I suspect they will be for the rest of their lives. It warms my heart to see how much the siblings love each other--that they really appreciate those they have because they know how quickly someone can be gone, even at their young ages.
The Greyson Family
DH: Theodore Cato Greyson {31}
DW: Hazel Juliet Greyson {30}
DS: Archer James Greyson {7}
DS: Henry Josiah Greyson {4}
DD: Catherine Jo Greyson {0}
Hazel Greyson; with Archer, Henry & Catherine