Thursdays with Caris: the Birthday Episode

Thursday mornings with Caris look a little like this:

Caris: (in a sing-song voice) 'Moooommmyy, mommy mommy mommy, momyyyyy, Moommy' My daughter sings me a song. Music to my morning ears.
Then the inquisitive: 'Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?'
And if I wait too long, on to the demanding: 'MOMMMY! MOMMY!'

It was a Monday, the day that Caris made me a mom. And my Monday's and Thursdays and every day in between have never been the same. Caris, you gave me a mother's heart. And it changed me forever. It gave me a purpose I never knew existed and filled my life with a depth I didn't know to pursue. A mother's heart knows a form of love that changes the definition of what love is.

That day was one and a half years ago yesterday. (18 months old she is!!) And 29 years ago today, I became my mother's daugther. Daughter to a mother (and father) who have supported me in all ways iaginable and made this all possible.

I am forever thankful that I will spend the rest of my birthdays with a mother's heart. And I am forever grateful for 29 years of wonderful birthday memories that my family has created for me And forever lucky that 8 years ago I began celebrating birthdays with someone who changed my heart in another way and has walked beside me to create a life we love.

Caris, thank you for the best gift I could have ever received.

As I enter this last year of the decade of my twenties, I am so thankful for where these past 29 years have brought me.

And so this Thursday with Caris, we celebrate.