Dear Daddy

Dear Daddy
So much is happening.....Emily is growing up.
She's 15 now and a beautiful young lady.
I wish you could see her.
She still dances...but now it's on her toes.
She's a ballerina, Daddy, and a good one.
She's very girly but she likes sports, too.
She and Larry enjoy the Indians games and watch football together.
Soccer is her newest love.
She's on the high school soccer team.
Her favorite color is purple.
She sings.
She draws.
She has your talent.
She has your nose.
She's pretty, smart and funny.
She's still a social butterfly.
She's the sun, the moon and the stars.

She has a young man in her life, Daddy.
I think you would really like him.
He reminds me a lot of both you and Larry.
He's going to be 17.
His birthday is 2 days before yours and 7 days before Larry's.
There's something extremely attractive about September men.
He is kind, generous and hard-working.
He absolutely adores her.
She's his princess just as she was yours.
She loves him.
He's her prince riding to her rescue.

I wish you could see them.
The way he looks at her.
The way she hops around when she knows she'll see him.
The way he kisses her on the forehead when she falls asleep on his shoulder.
The way she smiles when she talks about him.
The way they walk holding hands.
The way they talk on the phone every night.

Hummmm....It sound like a young man and woman you knew.

Is it a forever love?
The one you watched bloom was.
This one?

We like him, Daddy.
We like him a lot.
He's good for her.
He grounds her without clipping her wings.
They're so young.
They're so crazy about each other.
Their future is a big blank canvas.

I worry.
I worry about broken hearts.
I worry her world will fall apart again.
I watched a boy break our baby's heart.
I watched her crumble.
I watched her loose her self-esteem.
I watched as my girl disappeared.
I held her while she cried.
I couldn't make it better.
Mommy's kisses weren't magic this time.

I watched while Wes fixed it.
I watched him build her back up.
His patience.
His gentleness.
His kindness.
His strength.
He patched her back together.
Kissed the hurt away.
Encouraged her free spirit to fly again.

We owe that boy more then he will ever know.
He gave us our baby back.

So much is happening......

I hope you can see.

I love you ........ your baby girl - Me

Spring

I can't believe it's the end of March! What happened to the time between Halloween and Easter? Christmas has come and gone as well as New Years, Valentine's Day, Emily's birthday and St. Patrick's Day. The years fly by so fast now.

I remember when my mother used to say that and I would just laugh. I had all the time in the world.

Now as we prepare this year to celebrate Larry's 50th birthday, having already celebrated Emily's 15, move towards our 18th wedding anniversary in October and, dare I say it, my 46th birthday in August, I realize that all the time in the world is slipping by quickly, ...very quickly.

I have done a lot in my life compared to others. I've lived in Europe as well as the United States. I've gone to college and received a degree. I've married the man I love and have continued to love and be loved by him for more then 20 years. I've given birth to a beautiful daughter who brings joy to my life everyday. I've owned my own business. I have wonderful, lifelong friends. I have a lovely home and a great family.

But there is so much more I have to do.

• I want to travel....England, Ireland, Scotland. I want to take Emily to Paris. I want to visit Lebanon with Mona. I want to walk the Great Wall, see the Pyramids of Giza, wonder the streets of Rome and the hills of Tuscany, touch the ancient walls of Jerusalem. I want to experience Sweden with Helene, Transylvania with Larry and Slovakia with my family.
  

• I want to read so much more.....about history, the novels of Jane Austin, Charles Dickens, and more 19th century authors, about gardening and traveling and people following their dreams by living in France (Peter Mayle) and Italy (Frances Meyers).

• I want to renovate a beautiful old home and once again breath life into it.
  

• I want to cook lovely things found in lovely cookbooks then eat them!

• I want to once again live abroad, expand my vision, learn different styles of living.

• I want to loose 40 lbs.

• I want to create and let my imagination soar without the limits of time or pocketbook.

I have so much more I want to do and so little time.........