06/03/2026
Here’s a random family fun fact… And TRUST ME, you’ll want to read this one…. 🤭
My mom’s birthday is this Friday... Mine is Saturday… We’re exactly 20 years and 1 day apart…. Now before you think that’s sweet, let me tell you the story because this one’s just funny…
My mom spent her ENTIRE 20th birthday in labor.
During that time, my mom kept telling the doctor she was NOT having me on her birthday…. She already had to share a birthday with her little sister and was absolutely not having her child that day too…
But here’s where it gets even better…. 🙃🙄
After spending her entire 20th birthday in labor, my mom got exactly what she wanted, no birthday baby…. Around 4 a.m. the next morning, she finally got to meet the little baby she’d spent the last nine months preparing for…
Next thing you know, the doctor lays a baby girl on her chest… From what my parents have always told me, my mom absolutely LOST it…. I mean completely bawling her eyes out lost it…
The kind of cry that comes after spending nine months being told you’re having a boy, picking out the name Justin Tyme Lee, and being completely convinced you know exactly who’s about to arrive because you’re prepared… and they lay a GIRL on your chest…
In her JUST delivering mindset, still bawling her eyes out over it, she thought Dr. Johnson ( Her co-worker ) was playing a joke on her… As she is telling them she didn’t want a girl… Well, turns out it was just me.. Instead, they got Savannah Smiles Lee… 🤭
Honestly, I feel like that was the first warning sign of what the next 30 years were going to look like…
Everything had to be HOT PINK. My dad painted every bike pink, my mom painted every room pink, and somehow they ended up raising a little girl who loved dirt bikes, grease, and personality full of pink all at the same time..
I got dirty, worked on cars, ate mud pies, climbed anything I probably shouldn’t have ( YEP BROKE MY ARM 6 TIMES ) and spent most of my childhood acting more like my dad than my mom would’ve preferred…
I somehow managed to be both the son they expected and the daughter they got… and I kept my mom’s heart in a constant state of anxiety either way… I was late, unexpected, and immediately changed everyone’s plans….
Now that I have kids of my own, and know how hard life can be sometimes, I look at this picture completely differently….
Behind all the funny stories, she’s always been the backbone… The one who shows up… The one who helps with the store… The one who helps with our marriage… The one who helps with the grandkids… The one who somehow finds a way to be there whenever we need her..
She’s been my biggest supporter, my sounding board, my backup plan, and sometimes the voice of reason when I probably didn’t want to hear it. 🤍
So while the story of how I got here is pretty funny, the woman behind it is even better… And thank goodness Savannah Smiles showed up… because let’s be honest, I don’t think Justin Tyme would’ve survived around here… 🤭
