The quads are five
11/10/2008

The quads are five 

My sister's quadruplets are five years old today.  They're going to preschool, playing soccer, swimming, studying dance and taekwando.  Laila lost her first tooth, and they've had their first visit from the Tooth Fairy.  They are a nonstop chaotic tag-team of hilarity and chaos.  And yet five years ago and a day ago, I was afraid my sister was on a train destined for derailment.  I couldn't see how she, a single mother without a trust fund, could survive their arrival.  How wrong I was.

Thanks to my sister's indefatigable love and commitment, the generosity of strangers, and the dedicated support of family and friends, my sister and her Quad Squad are alive, healthy, and tearing up Yuma, their new home town.

Beth is now a real estate agent, and after only a year on the job, is her office's second-highest producer.  (She's motivated!)  She's also working with an editor on a book, renovating their three-bedroom ranch-style home in downtown Yuma, and soaking up every minute she gets to spend with her pint-sized crew.

The quads keep her busy with their triumphs and tribulations.  Lukey was worried about the night-time arrival of the Tooth Fairy.  (What's the point of an alarm system if you're going to start letting strange fairies into the house?)  Laila's an artist and also very interested in pre-school buddy Austin, who "wants to marry me."  The morning after the Tooth Fairy's visit, she reported that she "was dreaming about the Tooth Fairy, and saw a light, and then a hand slipped under my pillow...And it felt like a human hand."

Cason is the self-appointed, sibling-confirmed leader and spokesperson.  Barrett wanders to a different drum and doesn't care if anybody's following. 

Together, the four of them fill our family's lives with so much love, joy, and potential.  They are such a blessing and a gift that I can hardly imagine I once believed they were a pending disaster.  Truly, as A Course in Miracles says, we really don't know where our happiness lies.

My friend Cynthia Cendreda created a slideshow of the babies' first five years, which is posted to the bethsbabies.com website.  Here's a link, so you can share the joy yourselves.  Happy birthday, Babies!  Congratulations, Beth!

http://www.bethsbabies.com/slideshow/1.html?n=2