My Dearest Daughter,
I want to start this letter by telling you that I love you. You have been the light of my life for almost 14 years now. Through all of the good times and the bad, the ups and the downs, I have tried to be the best mother I could possibly be. Don't get me wrong, I have not been the perfect parent that I thought I could be and honestly, I wish that children came with a "How To" manual.... but regardless of the mistakes either of us has made, I have loved you no matter what. So with that being said, I am wanting to give you a gift. A gift of some of the wisdom that I wish I had known at your age (I was probably told these things and refused to listen to them). You might look at this letter and think that its not much of a gift, but please, read it through and think hard about it.
1) Responsibility. My dear sweet baby girl. You are growing up so fast! You deserve (and need) some responsibilities. You wonder why you father and I refuse to buy you a $300 iPod when you have broken or lost the last 2 that you have owned. Part of your responsibilities are to take care of the things that you have. I admit, I have spoiled you rotten in your life (or I have made sure you were spoiled by our family). I have given you most of your hearts desires..... without you having to work for those desires. Maybe I made a mistake in this. Maybe I didn't. (I can reflect on that later.) You will be moving out in just over 4 short years and will be responsible for buying your own things at that time. I promise that you will want to know how to take care of these things!
2) Trust. This is something that you and I have talked about for years and years. Trust is the easiest thing to lose and the hardest thing to gain in this world. I know that we have had some issues with trust in the (recent) past and I also know that part of these issues came from you wanting to assert your independence. All I can really say here is that there is no way that I can completely explain to you just how important trust is in your life. Your father and I are not going to hand you trust and go along our merry way but rather we are going to continue to guide you and trust that you will make the best decisions you can.
3) Thanksgiving. Always appreciate everything in your life, my sweet girl. You never know when it could be gone. Be thankful for your many possessions (even if I refuse to buy certain things for you and I make you save for them). Cherish the gifts that people give you, even if they aren't "exactly" what you wanted. Those people cared enough to take the time to buy you something. There are so many less fortunate people in this world (and I'm not even talking about on the other side of the world). They could be neighbors or a friend in class. You never know. So rather than be upset that you didn't get that "perfect gift", be truly thankful that you received something in the first place. Always have a thankful spirit.
4) Family. You have been blessed with a very large family, both by blood and by choice. Cherish this family. Hold them close to you and always tell them how much they mean to you! We have all made mistakes, goodness knows that half the time I get angry at you (or your sister), I tend to flip out before I have really processed the situation. Like I said before, I am not the perfect parent I thought I would be. But I have always loved you no matter what. And no matter how mad I get at you, no matter how mad you get at me, I will never stop loving you.
5) School. This has been such an uphill battle for you! You are such a bright young lady! I can honestly say that watching you go through the things that you have gone through in middle school, I am so glad that I was in school when I was! School and children have changed so much since I was young. Everything is so much more accessible which means that trouble is right there staring you in the face every time you turn around. Temptation is begging you to make a mistake. What pressure you are under! I want you to know that I am so proud of how far you have come and how far you will go. Both your father and I are here for you no matter what is going on in your life.... all you have to do is turn to us. Keep going, baby girl. Don't give up on your dreams. Keep reaching for them and they will come true.
I love you so much, my precious daughter! And as hard of a time as I am having watching you grow up, I am excited to watch your life unfold for you.
With all my heart,
Love Mom.
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