My Favorite Girl,
It’s been a couple of weeks since you officially turned 21. I had to sit with it for a minute and let the reality of the fact that you are a certified adult sink it. The saying is so very true that the days are long, but the years are short. It seems like only yesterday I was watching you pull yourself up in your crib, grinning at me with that smile that still melts my heart. As proud as you have made me over the years, I can’t help but also be proud of myself.
I actually succeeded in raising an entire human being.
I look at you now, and I can’t help but beam with pride. You are everything I prayed for and more. You continue to be the motivation for everything I do and say. I am always working to make you just as proud of me as I am of you. I don’t ever want you to question whether you have made me proud because you absolutely have. Don’t ever question my love for you because you have it unconditionally.
Not only have you taught me how to love, but you are teaching me how to become the very best version of myself. You embody the very best parts of me, and I am eternally grateful for you, your laughter, your smiles, your hugs, your support, your encouragement. You keep me focused and grounded in ways you will never understand or imagine.
You, my dear, have seen me at my highest highs and my lowest lows, and you continue to love me in spite of me. One thing I know is that you don’t play about me, and Lord knows I don’t play about you. I didn’t realize during all those times I spent daydreaming about when you would enter my life, that as much as I wanted you, over the years, I would actually come to need you. I wouldn’t be the woman I am today without your presence in my life. So, as I celebrate this milestone birthday, I also have to say thank you for not only being my daughter and but for becoming my friend.
Happy 21st birthday, my darling. I love you more than words can say.
Girls for Life,
Mommy
