Seddy

By Andrea Tadpole-Broussard

I am laying here tonight remembering what I was doing 38 years ago. I was half way through a 48 hour labor. It was long and hard. The little one I carried was what we now call my rainbow baby. The one I carried after I lost my first baby.

I remember from the day I found out I was pregnant I knew I was having a boy. I just knew it in my heart. I also knew his name would be Sedrick and I would call him Seddy. I prayed every day that God would protect him and keep him safe. I sang old hymns like Amazing Grace, Sweet Chariot and How Great Thou Art to him all the time before he was born and every night after he was born. We always sang together as he got older.

When he was born the only thing I wanted to hear was his cry. When I heard his cry I could finally breath again inside. Seddy truly was and still is my rainbow. He has always found a way to make me smile and laugh, even in the darkest times. He is my oil of joy just like his little boy is for him today.

My mind is flooded with memories about my sweet Seddy. I remember when he was little he climbed everywhere. I was always finding him hiding in cabinets. He was so smart and observant. He got his first stitches when he was 2 years old. He figured out how to take a broom and knock the hook lock loose on the door to the basement stairs so he get some cookies on the shelf next to the door! He has always been independent like that.

As he got older, before school age he would always wake me up by singing to me. He always made up songs. I loved them. He got interested in music in high school and started writing his own songs. He played the guitar, drums and any other instrument he picked up. His music was and is like medicine to my soul. As a young man, Seddy has always had a passion for Christ. He played in praise and worship for his church. He has always loved people and brought joy to them through music.

Seddy has been through his own hard knocks in life. I remember the day I realized he had become a man in my eyes. It was the day he placed his tiny daughter Zoey's casket in the ground. I remember I drove him and Zoey's mom home from the funeral and the song Jesus Take The Wheel came on the radio. It was exactly what we needed to hear. A few years later he had to bury his little stillborn son. His first marriage was a casualty from all the grief. Yet, he stayed true to his daughter Kaylee and has always been there for her. He is an awesome father.

Eventually he got remarried to his beautiful wife Victoria. They had a son, Michael Charles, a little over a year ago. I saw the joy return to Seddy when he held his son. It was such a holy moment.

Seddy is now Sedrick to everyone. He's a salesman and just like his great grandfather Shelby, he can sell sno cones in a snow storm. He just has that gift. I have watched him battle Lupus daily but still keep pushing through. His perseverance amazes me.

I am the proudest mother in the world when it comes to my son. He has become all I ever wanted him to be and more. He works hard. Loves his family with all that he is and most of all loves and serves the Lord. I am so blessed to be his mom.

I love you Seddy. I always have and always will.

I know I am a day early but...

Happy birthday!!

Mom 💜