A Letter to My Oldest Daughter…
To My Dearest Sweets…
The one who came into my world and is now my WHOLE world (along with your sister). You bring so much joy to me and your dad and this entire family. You light up any room with your smile and sweet spirit. Your sensitivity, stubbornness and determination are a characteristic you share with me and your father…probably more me than him, but don’t tell him I said that. As I am writing this you are two years old… “protector”, caregiver and the drive to always want to help. I love you baby girl with every breath I breathe. You are my first and you are responsible for making me a mom. You taught me so much about myself, because girl! For a while, I didn’t think I could keep you alive. You gave me my first shot at on-the-job training, and while I could have picked up the phone to call other mom’s in our village, a lot of things your dad and I had to figure it out on our own. You have taught me patience, the meaning of unconditional love, to laugh when I don’t feel like it, and so much more. Your first year of life was filled with typical baby activities like breast feeding, finding the right formula, constant gas, sleep training (you slept with us and we loved it, but we knew it was wrong)…the list could easily go on and on. I was elated to stay at home with you the whole time while I worked, seeing your first crawl, your first steps, witnessing your growth, and just being there the who first year of your life was PRICELESS!
My prayers and dreams for you are simple…
· Know, Love, and Dedicate your life to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
· Be a good person. People are mean. Not everyone will be your friend and that is okay. Don’t get it twisted, make sure you stand up for yourself. Just don’t be an intentional butthole. My grandmother always told me, “It’s nice to be nice, and it’s free”
· Be confident. You know who you are AND you know WHOSE you are! You are beautiful, smart, caring, giving, funny, affectionate, passionate, determined and all the things girl. Let NOTHING and NOBODY tell you anything different.
· Go after your goals and dreams. Know and understand you can do and be anything you put your mind to. There are no limits. Your dad and I will ALWAYS be there for you. No matter what! Again, let NOTHING and NOBODY tell you you CANNOT do something (including us). EVER. If you want to do it, do it.
· You and your sister ALWAYS stick together. May you two always hold each other down. ALWAYS!
· Learn, travel and see the world! While your dad and I will take you a lot of places and expose you to so many cultures, languages, foods, and whatever else may be featured in what we are doing, we won’t be able to show you everything.
· I will always love you! This goes the same for your dad too, but this is my letter! We will not always agree or see eye to eye and that is to be expected. I know we will learn from each other because that is what life does. There is nothing you could ever do or say to make me stop loving you, Sweets. EVER
While I know nothing is perfect, I pray our relationship grows as we both grow because we both are “learning on the job”. I have never been a mom before, and you’ve never been a daughter before hence we will figure it out together. Thus, know that you can come to me about anything FIRST (even if you get in trouble and/or think I will be mad, come to me anyway. I may surprise you. Whether I am mad or not, I am not going to just let you do it alone). I love you my sweet baby girl. To infinity.
Love always,
Mama
