Grace,
Last night we sat around the kitchen table and celebrated you. No big hoorah, no bells and whistles, just us
– Dulion, party of 4. It was one of
those memories that I will hold close, pulling it out and savoring it over and
over during those times, not too far down the road now, when our party of 4
finds itself spread a bit further than the closeness of our kitchen table. How in the world are you 14? We must have asked that 100 times as we sat
and talked and laughed and remembered.
Those memories are my treasures.
I love the fact that you enjoy looking at our photo albums – one day you’ll
know what it feels like to look back at treasured memories, at your beautiful
babies, at sweet, sweet time passing quickly by and have your heart squeeze
tight and your eyes sting as you wish so hard that life came with a rewind
button.
 |
| In awe of you then. In awe of you still. |
You, my Grace, are exquisite. You are strong-willed and stubborn and kind
and loyal and beautiful and funny and passionate and fierce and spirited and determined
and just absolutely . . . magical. You
have this SPARK, Grace. There’s just no
other way to describe it. I see it best
in those moments when you are truly happy – oh, that shared-too-rarely genuine
smile that shows your dimples (the only evidence that you are my child that
actually found its way onto your face) and makes your eyes twinkle. I see it when you love your brother so big,
when you dance with the same abandon as your Granddaddy, when you introduce
yourself and talk to new acquaintances like they’re long-lost friends, when you
interact with little children, when you finally figure something out or think
you know a secret, when you take off and run as fast as you can, when you find
something really funny, when you stride confidently onto a basketball court,
when you wrestle with Daddy, when you work hard and reach a goal. You, Grace, you SPARKLE.
I just finished a really good book – the author’s name is
Jen Hatmaker, and I’m pretty sure that if I met her, she’d sparkle a lot like
you. In her book she gives this advice
to her children:
“Be kind.
Be you.
Love Jesus.”
That’s it. The holy
grail. While I’d love to impart my own
life-changing parental wisdom to my first-born on her 14th birthday,
well, sometimes someone has already said it better than you ever could. I just don’t think I can do much better than
that. So, my precious girl, my
undeserved gift, my Grace . . .
Be Kind – more than you have to; even when you don’t have
to; especially when you don’t want to; abundantly to those who others forget
to
Be You – you are enough; you sparkle; you are an answer to
my prayers, my Amazing Grace; you are WONDERFULLY made; you are Anna Grace
Dulion - daughter of Amy and Michael, Cooper’s big sister, my heart’s joy and
my precious gift
Love Jesus – when everything else gets confusing (and it
will); when you question and doubt (and you will); when it is hard to be kind
and even harder to be you
Happy 14th birthday my Grace! I can't wait to see what's next . . .
More than you’ll ever know,
Mommy