I write a letter to my children on their birthdays each year. It has become a tradition I cherish, a time for reflecting on each child and recording the little things from the past year that come together to make our lives so beautifully meaningful.
Teddy, you are nine today. This is a big one for you. You think nine is very old indeed. You feel like you have been waiting for nine for a long long time.
And you are right. Nine is a big one. I have watched you change so much in this past year. You have started to think very deeply about things and come up with wonderfully plausible explanations for the things you don’t quite understand. You have great confidence in yourself and your abilities and hardly ever doubt that you can do great things.
We had a small setback when you fell out of a tree and injured your liver. You spent two nights in the Intensive Care at hospital. The hospital staff remarked often what a calm patient you were. You trusted us, your dad and I. You knew that we would protect you and that if something unpleasant had to happen, we had made sure that it was necessary and unavoidable. I was so proud of how brave you were, how brave and strong. Your dad and I stayed by your side through it all and, although we wouldn’t have wished this injury, our love for each other grew even stronger through this shared experience. It was hard to watch you with tubes and needles in your arms but your strength gave us strength to be strong for you. We are a good team.
I think you learned that you are not infallible and that you have to get though challenges with grace and love. This is a good lesson. You can lean on the people who love you.
You learned to read this year. It felt like overnight. One day you were sounding out the letters and the next you were reading sentences. It has been amazing to watch. You have also discovered an artistic talent and your drawings have evolved into wonderfully detailed works with lots of color and activity.
We went on two fun family adventures, to Maine and Massachusetts and then to Portland, Oregon. We had great fun on both trips and made wonderful family memories. On these trips we decided that we definitely want to have chickens and you will be the chicken boy and that we love the freedom of nature and want to live where nature lives. Planes are fun.
A special moment of our day stands out for me to remember. The early mornings when just the two of us are awake and we lie together on the couch and watch the warm glow of sunshine entering the world. At first we are silent together, for minutes that stretch on wonderfully long. But, when the sun is shining golden on our bodies, you start to talk and stories of your days and important happenings unfold like a flowing stream of lovely images for me to imagine. I hug you as we lie together, trying not to squeeze you as tightly as my heart desires, and my soul swells to bursting with love. You will remember this time fondly but to me, it’s one of the most precious gifts I’ll ever have… those beautiful mornings together when you let me hug you tightly and tell me your truths.
Thank you for a beautiful year, my blue-eyed Teddy bear. Each year I say it and each year it’s true… my love for you grows with every passing day. I am so thankful for all the special moments we have shared. I am enormously proud of you and the kindness you show to others. I am forever grateful that you chose me to be your mom.
Blessings and magic,
Mom
Here are some of the other birthday letters I’ve written to my children over the years.
Blessings and magic,
Donni
