Thirteen

There are a lot of important birthdays in life. Your first. Your twenty-first. Your fiftieth. But the defining year is thirteen. That's when you cross from child to teenager and become a young woman or young man.

Thirteen years ago today, I was standing in a hospital room, holding my daughter's hand, waiting for my first grandchild to be born. The years have passed swiftly, oh so swiftly.

Now she is a young lady with all the dreams and plans of a young lady. Life veers from ecstatic to despair. One moment she plays Barbie dolls with her little sister. Then next she's posing for that special boy.

What do I wish and pray for her on this day? That all her mistakes will be small ones. That all her judgments will be sound. That she will learn from every wrong turn. That she will dance like there's no tomorrow. That she will sing with all her heart. And love with all her soul.

Happy Birthday, T.

Love, Nanna