Celebration of Life

On May 2, my daughter turned one. The biggest milestone in her life. I wrote the following message for her to celebrate the greatest gift of being her mom.

TO MY DAUGHTER

There are so many things I want to tell you, show you, teach you…but there never seems to be enough time. This life is a fleeting one. When you are older, you will wish for time to fly, to be able to drive a car, go to college, move out of your parents’ house, get married and live the life you were meant to…

After you have achieved all that and more, you will want time to stop. Where has your life gone? What is yet to come? You will stop just as I am stopping now and watch your child run around, laughing, playing, imagining, and wonder where the time has gone.

You change every minute of every day. Each morning, you wake up with a smile and seem a little wiser and older. You amaze your father and me daily. We are already so proud of the person you are becoming. We can see amazing things in your future. Your tenacity and stubbornness will make you a force to be reckoned with and will intimidate everyone you meet. Your smile and laugh are so intoxicating; their radiance can penetrate the darkest depths of space. Those eyes of yours just take in and see the world in a way we never imagined. Everything is new and beautiful. Nothing has been spoiled with judgment and scorn. 

I can only describe watching you as my magnum opus. You made me a mommy. You made my life more radiant with each passing day. I have never seen the sun shine so brightly or the grass glisten as if covered in a blanket of diamonds during the torrential rains. You have taught me to love unconditionally and without judgment. To see the world through other eyes and experience their life. You have taught me to stop and live within the moment and not worry about tomorrow.

I want you to use the same tenacity and beauty you show every day and tackle this world head on. Be the difference you want to be and do it with your own flare. I can never thank you enough for everything you have already taught me and what you will continue to teach me every day. Never stop smiling my brilliant may flower.