Happy Birthday to My Oldest!

The sweet baby breath was gentle on my cheek. She smiled with her tiny lips, and sighed contentedly as she snuggled her head under my chin.

Feelings of incredible joy, of a love so deep I could hardly breath, washed over me. This perfect little baby was mine. God had entrusted her to my care. I began to sing a song to her which my dad had sang to me that he had made up for me when I was a baby, a simple yet comforting song with just two lines which were repeated over and over again. Singing that song seemed to bring me closer to him, even though his soul had passed in the night a few days earlier. He died soon after meeting two of his long-held goals: he wanted to live to be 80, and he wantled to live until I became a mom.

He hadn't met his granddaughter yet, but he loved her fiercely just the same. When I called him to tell him about her birth, he asked me if I rememberd the little song he used to sing to me. I told him that, of course, I remembered it. He began to sing it to me one more time, so softly at first, and then his voice grew stronger. At the end of his song, I could hear him crying. It was the last time I had ever heard his voice.

This child grew up ever so quickly. She is a young woman now, turning 18 tomorrow. I looked at her sleeping face tonight, and there was a smile of contentment on her lips just as before when she was a baby. She knows she is loved by so many. She knows that the world is hers to make a difference in, and that she has a lifetime ahead of her to help make it a better place in which to live. She knows she is a child of God, and that she wants to spread His love to others by serving all with whom she comes in contact.

There have been moments of incredible joy, and moments of gut-wrenching sadness over the years. And with each experience, we grew closer, bound by a love so strong that nothing could destroy it. Through the laughter and the tears, we held each other close, and we never let go.

She's a young adult now, and my job is nearing an end. But one thing will always remain the same - she will always be that baby girl who loved to snuggle under my chin as I gently rocked her to sleep.

Happy Birthday, Sara!