My Darling Daughter

Have I told you about the best friend a mom can have? Well, she’s my girl. Now, we haven’t always been the best of friends. Middle school and high school about did us in. But we survived and came out on the other side better people for it. We both matured and realized that there might be something enjoyable about this whole mother/daughter relationship. This happened about the time she went away to college. While I always knew she was very special, I realized quickly what a fabulous young woman she had become – independent, capable, smart, creative and beautiful on the inside and out. And maybe, just maybe she realized I really wasn’t a tyrant or trying to ruin her life. Maybe I did know a few things. Maybe we could enjoy the same things. Maybe we could be friends.
Now I am a firm believer that you are a parent before you are a friend. All of my children’s formative years, I knew I had to protect them, discipline them, and teach them. They had plenty of friends to fill that role. I had to sometimes be the bad guy, the voice of reason. No, I didn’t like it but that’s what the job required. Then, like letting go of a rope, I loosened my grip. Ever so slowly, little by little. And that’s when the fun began. I could truly enjoy who my daughter had become.
Let me tell you a few things about my girl: This young woman has the most tender heart you’ll ever find. She has a deep love and compassion for others. While she was in high school, we delivered Meals on Wheels together. She would walk right into the home of an elderly person and before long, she knew all about them. She listened . . . and she cared. She served in Guatemala for several years, giving up her Spring Break to love those who many found unlovable. And she loves her family. She thinks her dad is just the best. (and by the way, he is equally as crazy about her). One memory I have seared in my mind is when she and her dad took the floor for the “Father-Daughter Dance” at her wedding reception. D and I had been so busy preparing for the wedding, I’m not sure we were prepared for this moment. Waves of emotion rushed over me. During that three minute dance, I reached back into my memory bank and saw vividly the most beautiful baby I had ever seen 22 years earlier. With a head full of black hair, she captured my heart forever. I saw her in pig tails and crooked bangs (because I cut them myself once . . . and vowed right then and there never to put her through that again). I saw the girl whose constant companion was a baby doll named Claudia, who we still have to this day. I saw a girl who loved her baby brother who was as different from her as night and day. I saw a girl who had struggled through middle school, braces and all the awkwardness that comes with that. I saw a girl who, throughout the years, has made her family a priority in her life. I saw a girl who loves her parents, her brother, her grandparents and now . . . her husband.
Another thing about my girl . . . she can make me laugh. We have the same quirky sense of humor. Things that are funny to us are not funny to anyone else including the men in our family. They just don’t get us sometimes. But that’s okay because we get each other. And we can do us some serious talking let me tell you. If we haven’t seen each other in a few days, it is non-stop conversation. No one can get a word in. The men have learned to not even try.
And can I just tell you how much fun she is? We have the privilege of owning a business together. We work hard but when you are doing something you enjoy, it doesn’t seem like work. We meet weekly for “staff meetings” (it’s just the two of us) at our local sandwich shop that has wireless internet. We have sat there for hours. Would you believe me if I told you we have had breakfast and lunch there all in the same day? But time just flies by when I’m with her. She continues to bring me immeasurable joy. As a parent, I cannot ask for more. So today, I am thanking God for the amazing blessing her life has brought me. I’m thanking Him for His amazing grace and mercy that covers my mistakes as a mother. For the friendship I thought might never be possible. For the love a mother can only have for her child. I love you, darling girl!