My Jordan

I wrote this post 2 years ago - and as birthdays do, they keep coming.  Jordan is such a great man, great husband, great father, great son. 


Here's to Jordan:

OK, so I've really thinking about my children today. Especially Jordan. He burst onto the scene 26 years ago TODAY. Labor began on Halloween back in 1983 but after several back-and-forths to the hospital and finally an emergency c-section, he arrived into the world at 2:01 in the afternoon on November 2nd. My Jordan-baby. At least that's what just-about-2-year-old Jeremy began to call him. When he was born, he made my day.

Jordan. Carl and I were always very deliberate about our children's names. We not only wanted to like how the name sounded, but more importantly we wanted to love what the name meant.

Jordan is Hebrew masculine and its origin is from the Jordan River which flows between the countries of Jordan and Israel; its literal meaning is "descending." Especially important to us were all the miracles that happened at the Jordan River and the fact the John the Baptist baptized Jesus in its waters. And Patrick? It means "nobleman." We liked the way it sounded with Jordan and we especially thought Jordan P. Broggi had a nice ring to it. Then there was Carl's grandfather whose name was Patrick. And then there was Saint Patrick who is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. So we decided on Jordan Patrick Broggi.

Jordan. I've always said, "Every family needs a Jordan." But not just any Jordan - every family needs my kind of Jordan. My happy Jordan, my quick-to-make-me-smile Jordan, my making-up-funny-stories Jordan, and my brighten-the-darkest days Jordan. The Jordan who's also hard-working, driven, and such a great husband and daddy. Married to beautiful Maureen. Daddy to Jack, Luke, and now Claire.

I remember when we took Jeremy to college. After getting him settled and doing all the stuff parents do when a child begins the process of leaving home, we drove away. When I could see him no more, I began to cry and couldn't seem to stop. It felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. That's when I heard Jordan say, "Gee, Mom, the way you're crying, you'd think you left me there, not Jeremy."

I laughed so hard. He made my day.

I think though, that one of the most rewarding moments for me as Jordan's mom, was when he invited me to go with him to one of his classes at Harvard. When the professor asked Jordan for an introduction of his guest, my son said, "This is my mom, Audrey Broggi, and she is an educator. I thought she would especially enjoy this class because she has educated my siblings and me at home since we were in first grade."

All the students began to clap. I was stunned. Stunned not only because I was sitting in a Harvard Business School class being applauded by Jordan's classmates but also (and mostly) because my son seemed genuinely proud of me. And as I looked over at him, all the doubts I'd ever had about the way I mothered him faded away with the applause. Once again, he made my day.

That's my Jordan.