Today, I am thankful for The Girl.
The Ogre and I were unable to have children. We did try for years… but the only little feet that ever pitter-pattered in our home has been our four foots. And, for a very long time, that void created a great deal of pain.
Enter The Girl.
I first met her when she was 14. And I fell in love. She was everything I thought a girl should be. She was her own person, with her own strengths, weaknesses and challenges.
Her life has never been an easy one. EVER. Her demons have always just been lurking a step behind her, and her joys have always seemed to be just out of her arms’ reach. As she got older, her health became more challenging, until chronic pain became her companion. She is complex, multi-layerd woman that I can hardly fathom. Her wisdom is earthy and hard-earned. She is truly one of the most watchful and insightful people I have ever known.
She raises her children with love and discipline – as freely with one as with the other. And she shares her love with an entire village of “family” she gathers to her like flowers. Hers is a family shrub. She is Mama, Wife, Sister, Daughter, Lover, Friend. But, most of all, she is her Self. (Even when she’d rather not be!)
Today is her 30th birthday. I truly wish I could change her world and give her all the joy and peace she so deserves. Just as when she was 14, I want to wrap her up in love and give her every single thing she wants or needs. She has earned that and so much more.
But life isn’t always like that.
So, today I give her my heart. Again.
Happy Birthday, Blue Spotted One, She Who Makes Lists, Daughter of my Heart.
And may the rest of your life be such a wonder and a joy that the first 30 years seem to be nothing more than a dream that prepared you for waking.
Be Blessed, Rae.
– Me
Dreaming a home 