To my firstborn:
I see myself in you;
In your never-ending quest for knowledge,
In your unquenchable thirst to understand the why of everything.
I see your need for affection,
And I see your longing for a father.
I fear for you.
I fear that you will follow in my footsteps,
Make the mistakes that I did,
Fall into the arms of the wrong men
In your confusion and hurt surrounding your absent father.
But I promise you this:
I will not let you go into the world unprepared.
I will let you make your own choices.
I hope you will make mistakes,
Little ones and big ones,
While you are still young,
While I am still here to help you up.
I hope that you will stay soft,
And not let the world harden you.
Because the world, my sweet princess,
Is a hard place.
It will knock you down,
And kick you while your down.
Stay innocent, my sweet girl, and stay soft.
To my baby:
I wonder who you will become,
As I watch the first buds of your personality
Flowering in front of me.
Already I see your tenacity,
Your resourcefulness,
The the determination that drives everything you do.
Already I see your curiosity,
Your wonderment and joy at every new thing.
And I fear for you, too, my baby girl,
Because soon enough you will miss your father.
You will start to understand that someone who should be there, isn't.
You will start to discover that tenacity and determination
Do not always make for success.
You will fail, and you will be discouraged.
I hope that you will never lose that drive.
I hope that every failure makes your determination that much stronger.
To both of you:
I hope that you will never forget
That you are beautiful, amazing, strong creatures,
Capable of more than you will ever know.
I hope that you will always make your own choices,
Be confident in yourselves.
I hope that you both become women
Who know what you want, and will stop at nothing to achieve it.
I hope that you will let no one, man or woman,
Negatively impact your opinions of yourselves.
And I hope that you will never forget
That I love you with every breath that I have.