March 2022

T E X A R K A N A M A G A Z I N E

IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK COLUMN BY L IZ FL IPPO Words to Live by S he turns seven this month. Getting her here took longer than we thought and started with a year of disappointment. It wasn’t until we were in the midst of the first stages of infertility testing that we were blessed with a positive at-home pregnancy test. Although I didn’t want to hear it at the time, my loved ones were right—it happened once I gave up control and got out of my own way. Our girl was the first grandchild on my side of the family, and it had been six years since the last grandchild was born on my husband’s side. She had everyone’s attention at all times, and we relished in her every move. Over the past few months, I have taken time to reflect on the last six years. As first-time parents, we made some great decisions. We also made some not great decisions and had to learn our lessons and change the course. I don’t hide our mistakes from our children because I want them to learn some humility and realize Mom and Dad aren’t perfect. And because we aren’t perfect, we don’t expect them to be either. There are some ground rules, though, that I want our daughter to carry with her always. When times get hard or she is not sure which road to take, surely the guide to her answer lies somewhere in these words. And maybe somebody else needs to hear them as well.

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