Daughter,
What can I say to you, that will express how I feel about you? You are my first child. I have loved you since before you existed, and I can truly say, there is no fiercer love in the world, than that of a mother for her child. You were my child when I was but a child myself. You and I, we've been through so many firsts together.
When you were born, I became Mother. Your first breath became mine too, in this new me. We were born together, child of mine. And that name, is my favourite name. Mother.
When you spoke your first word, I heard my first word from my first born. When you took your first steps, I became the Mother of Walking, Toddling Girl. When you read your first word, when you created your first piece of art, when you sang your first tune, when you ... I became proud, for the first time, all over again. Every day, my girl, is another day of firsts for us two. And that bond is one that is unbreakable.
Now, here is another first. It's a first letting go, a first you're becoming an adult moment and it is truly a thing to behold. You are setting on a new path, one that has not been written for you because you control your trajectory. Daughter, I wish I could glimpse the path before you and shine a light the whole way down. I wish I could pave it for you, and make it safe. But, it is your path and you must walk it. It will not be smooth, nor will it be easy. But, Daughter, it will be yours, and I will hold your hand and I will push you (maybe a little), and I will cheer you on all the way down. I will wear your colours and I will be there to smile at you when you feel like you can't. I will cry for you and cry with you, and I will probably get mad, once in a while. I will shine lights where I am able, when it is too dark for you to see. I will help you learn how to get back up when you stumble or fall, and I will definitely have your back when you're climbing up the rocks. I will celebrate your joys and and I will mourn your losses, right along with you when you need me.
But here is the big part for you: the path is yours, and you must walk it. You have this whole, bright, wide, crazy future that is all for you. I can't take you there, but man will I be the one ever in your corner as you go.
Daughter. You have given me the greatest gifts of my life. Now, take your wonderful life and run. Go forward, go up. Push and persevere. Be wild but safe. Be shrewd but smile. Be ambitious but kind. Grow. Never stop growing.
This new first, this new chapter is all yours my girl. God, I love you.
Mom
