Happy Birthday

Seven years ago,



You were born.

As each year has passed, you have changed over and over into the person you are growing up to be. You have changed, so have I.




At one, you still happily snuggled in the sling while I carried you everywhere. I had barely let you out of my arms for the prior 12 months.





By two, you had figured out how to slip out of the sling, and you wanted to walk on your own. I had to learn to let you walk by my side.



When you were three, you still held close to me, but branched out a bit further. Tiny independent steps. I watched as you swam away from me, your floaties a symbol of your need to be a little further out of reach.



Four, oh four, there you were in preschool. Hours spent in a place that was "YOURS", hours you weren't sharing with me. My arms ached.



Five years, how did that happen? Now you were off to school every day. A whole world without me. I had to learn to trust other people to guide you and keep you safe. You went through those doors with someone I had met just once.



She was as proud as I was to see you "graduate". Your smile radiates the confident girl you had become. You were a grown up young lady of SIX.



Seven, you are seven...I say it over and over in my mind. It seems like I must be talking about someone else. The days sometimes get scrambled all together, "eat your breakfast","brush your teeth" and "have you cleaned your room?".



It all comes back to center when we lay on your bed, it's time for sleep. Your CD is on, the same one we have listened to night after night, for who knows how long. You are back in my arms, each night, snuggled close to my heart.

I can remember when
You fit in the palm of my hand
Felt so good in it
No bigger than a minute.
How it amazes me
You're changing with every blink
Faster than a flower blooms
You grow up all too soon.



Sometimes, it hurts to see you change so fast. Most of the time, it has made me proud to see who you are becoming.



Happy Birthday my Anna, my sunshine. The sky is always the limit.