For Mahala...

Wow.... thirty years ago you were born... my so special... so wanted... so loved second child.  On that day I couldn't imagine you as a thirty year old woman.  I looked into your eyes and you looked back into mine... and a bond was cemented, a bond that had begun nine months earlier.

I wish so much for you my daughter...

I wish you a life of love.  Love of family, of friends and yes, that one special man that will fill your soul with passion, obliterating the rest of the world in your eyes.

I wish you a life of happiness, even more, of joy. I wish you that inner sense of joy in the world, joy in a sunset... a dandelion.. a rainstorm.  And happiness in general--that sense that all is right in your world.

I wish you a job you want to wake up to on Monday morning.  A job that fulfills you, that makes the world a better place.

I wish you peace.  The peace that comes from knowing you are enough.  You exist and therefore you are perfect just the way you are.

I wish you the knowledge that though you are perfect as is, there is never a time or place when we are 'done.'  There is always room for growth and if you don't like something about yourself, you have the choice and the responsibility to change it.

I wish you the knowledge that others opinions are not your business.  Your business is following your own heart, your own mind and doing what you know to be right.

I wish for you the knowledge that though I was a far from perfect mother, I love you, and have and will every single day of your life.  And every, single day I did the absolute best I could do for you, in love.

I wish for you deep relationships with your siblings.  Someday I will not be here, and I hope that you and your siblings will lean on each other.  They are merely  perfect and flawed human beings, as we all are--but I trust that their intentions are good and I hope that you will trust that as well.

I wish for you the sense, deep in your heart, that though your father and I no longer live together... we each love you fiercely and that will never change.

I wish for you the knowledge that you come from a long line of strong women.  You are who you are, in some small part, because of the women who came before.  Honor that.

I wish you a life of choice. We all have the choice to change what we don't like in our lives. We all have the choice to spend time with those who inspire us to be better human beings.  I wish you the strength to part from those people who pull you down, and to choose those who lift you up.

I wish for you the wisdom to understand, if you are feeling hurt by another's actions, then someone else is feeling hurt, in some way, as well.

I wish you busy days.
I wish you lazy days.
I wish you deep breaths.
I wish you uncontrollable laughter.
I wish you great books and deep discussions.

I wish you love.
I wish you joy.
I love you always.

Happy 30th Birthday my daughter.
Mom