Thirteen Years Ago, I Fell in Love

Thirteen years and several days ago, I fell in love.  She arrived in mid September of 1995 and stole my heart immediately.  She has spent the past thirteen years solidifying that love and I am immensely grateful everyday I get to be her mom.  Sometimes I look at her and marvel at how much she is like me. . . 

• her quick wit
• her dry sense of humor
• her ringing laugh
• her love of words and the stories they weave
• her ability to get in there and get things done, no matter how boring or mundane the task
• her reaching out when she sees people in trouble
• her fierce loyalty to those she loves

Other times I marvel at how she came from me, how she could be a part of me because there is so much that is foreign to me. . . 

• her passion and drive
• her acute sense of responsibility in all aspects of her life
• her need to make everything ok
• her wanting to please
• her wisdom
• her picky taste in dessert
• her sensibility
• her athleticism-she can do lay up and sink a free throw
• her Boy Scout attitude-always be prepared, as evidenced by the contents of her pockets

The teenage years will be a true test of my ability to see past myself and appreciate all that is different in her.  I know that because of her, because of who she is, we will come out on the other side stronger, more solid, and I will emerge more in love than I ever knew was possible.