An emotional birthday

Twenty five years ago yesterday, my darling Daughter was born. Somehow, this milestone hit me really deeply, as I remember vividly how that birth-day went, and how I felt the first time I saw my child.

So many life moments have gone on since then, childhood, school, AWFUL Jr. High, good High School, then college. Now she has a real job, and is more excited and fulfilled then I have ever seen her. It is so gratifying to be a Mother, to see your child grow up, to see them become the people you want them to be, to have them turn in to magnificent adults.

There are so many memories, so many times that I can look back and marvel at how we are able to manage parenthood with no books and no text as to how it works. If you do it right, your mistakes become their learning tools, and they morph into better people then you.

I took my DD out to breakfast yesterday. I had not been with her on her birthday, since she was nine years old, because every single year, she was at Camp Warren, first as an avid camper, and later as a great and enthusiastic counselor. I readily gave her to camp for her birthday, as I knew and know how much that meant to her, for her growth, for her character, for livelong frienships, with perfectly awesome kids.

She has an absent Father. We talked about this yesterday, how it had affected her, and how tough it was. She said that it wasn't as tough, because I was always there. That felt good. The irony of her absent Father, was that HE had an absent Father, and was adversely affected by it in many ways, and was unable to break the chain. I knew that, and knew that I would allow him to see her, and have a relationship if he chose, but he somehow, sued me for visitation, then never visited. He owes me hundreds of thousands of dollars. I never saw one single child support payment.

No matter, we survived, we thrive, we are strong, she is a marvel. My Daughter is the most cherished part of life, and she has no idea how much of my heart is sitting in hers.

Spark on.