HOLY COW: E I G H T E E N!
Tonight I actually googled what happens when your child turns 18,
and I read this:
Eighteen is a magic birthday, a milestone into adulthood
accompanied by great privileges as well as serious legal implications.
At 18, your teen can vote, buy a house or wed her high school sweetheart.
She can also go to jail, get sued and gamble away her tuition in Vegas.
I know this is a special birthday for Claire, but in my mind
Claire has been 18 for many years.
She has always been a mature and a steady young lady.
She's not a typical teenager with mood swings and an impulsive attitude.
She's always been grounded and sensible.
She's calm and collected, concerned, and intelligent.
She's one of the most beautiful souls I know, and her
beauty radiates from the inside to the outside.
I am overwhelmed and honored that God allowed
me to birth, rear, and love this beautiful girl.
I put up the Happy Birthday sign over our kitchen table last night
so she would wake up and see it, and for a split-second
I wondered if this would be the last time I would do that for her.
Where will she be next year?
I shoved that thought out of my mind because I can't be thinking
about that, it puts me in a very somber mood.
I am going to savor every single second this 18th year brings us.
"And no matter what places you travel to,
what wonders you choose to see,
I will always belong right there with you,
and you'll always belong with me."
