Sundays with Friends: Happy Birthday! You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…..

This one is from Mom for Sundays with Friends, in honor of my birthday. Love you, Mom!

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29 years ago today, I met the love of my life. Not the romantic love of my life, but the person that would become my life’s love: the person I would give my last breath for, the person I long to see happy, the person that brings joy to my soul when she turns and smiles that smile at me. The person that has been through so much with me, stood beside me, loved me, and was my friend. 29 years ago today, I met my beautiful daughter, Jennifer Nicole. I can still remember the trembling fear, the overwhelming love, the exhaustion of birth, and the way my heart skipped a beat, when she was placed in my arms. The child that God had entrusted to me. To me. The child that I would love with all my heart and do my best to raise to be a woman of this world. A woman that is kind, compassionate, loving, funny and my best friend. My Sweetie Pie.

I remember a childhood of little girl hugs and kisses, having tea parties on a blanket under the big tree in the backyard, a tiny green bikini splashing in a plastic kiddie pool, and love. I remember every year we would make and decorate a birthday cake with a little girl’s vision of perfection. Eating icing until little tummies ached. I remember bouquets of flowers so lovingly picked and presented with weeds and all. I can still see clearly the little girl full of wonder on her first day of kindergarten and feel my hot tears as I hurried to the car after leaving her there. I remember sitting through piano recitals and keeping beat, holding my breath, and knowing deep in my heart there was no need to worry. She would be fine.

School days flew by, friends came and went, and trips were taken. Chorus recitals were attended, always the proud Mom. I remember the day in church I turned to my little girl and realized she was taller than I was. It struck me at that moment; she was not a little girl anymore. She was growing and finding her own place in this world. I remember waiting up to know she was home and then hurrying home to see if she had called when she left home.

Little girl hugs and kisses grew into nurturing hugs and kisses when the child comforted the mother during dark days. We survived – the two of us together. We had our love. Shared times through tears and smiles, we were together and that was all that mattered. Life has changed in many ways since that day 29 years ago. I look at you and see a woman that is kind and loving. I see a woman that is caring and generous. I see a woman that I love. I see a woman that I am proud of. I see my friend. Always remember that you are strong, you will find that place that is so uniquely yours, and you will always be loved. Nourish the love you have in your life, always be kinder than necessary, and cherish every, single moment that God has blessed you with on this Earth. 29 years ago today, I met the love of my life.

You make me happy, when skies are grey. You’ll never know dear, how much I love you….I remember quiet lullabies sung in the dark to a baby, I have been so blessed to have the privilege of having in my life, my Sweetie Pie.

My recipe for today is a very simple one.

Ingredients:

One mother

One daughter

Love everlasting

Directions: Bring together in a home filled with love; sustain them through days of happiness and sadness. Throw in a swirl of laughter, a dash of hope, a smidge of dreams, and stir gently with life. Place in a world of opportunity and dreams that do come true, and let them settle into their own comfortable love and watch as they show everyone that love is true and can survive.

My darling, Jennifer,

May your day be filled with love, laughter, happiness, and dreams come true.

All my love today and always,

Momma