My beautiful girl.  How can you be NINE??  Wasn’t it just yesterday you Daddy held you close so I could see you and stroke that tiny perfect pink cheek until they finally allowed you to lay on my chest?  You were worth every minute of pain and every tear I cried.  Wasn’t it just yesterday you and I were riding around, just you and me, best of buddies, singing along to the radio?  “Sing with me, Moma,” you’d always say over and over again.  Wasn’t it just yesterday you waved goodbye to me as you confidently walked into your preschool classroom for the first time?  You were never afraid and you knew there were lifelong friends to be made.  Wasn’t it just yesterday you were jumping up and down when you first saw the castle at Disney?  You stood amazed as Rapunzel chatted with you about how long it took you to brush your long hair and if you liked to braid it like she did.  Wasn’t it just yesterday that you gazed at your baby brother with a sense of awe?  “Do we really get to take him home?” you asked.  You are the best big sister any two brothers could ask for.

On your birthday, I love thinking about all the yesterdays and about how little you were.  But I can’t help but smile when I think about all the tomorrows yet to come.  Never stop dancing, even when no one else can hear the music.  Never stop singing, because your voice brings the world joy.  Never give up, because the Lord will never leave you and will never give up on you.  And neither will I.

You are braver than you believe.

You are stronger than you seem.

You are smarter than you think.

~ Pooh Bear ~

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!  I love you more than you will ever know.  

GO!!  Sing!!  Dance!!  Shine!!  Spread that light that lives in you for all the world to see!