It's a girl!

That was music to my ears many years ago on this date, at 2:56 am when daughter #2 slipped quietly into this world at 19inches, weighing 7.9 lbs.   I was thrilled that daughter #1 would have a sister.  And besides, I "get" girls, being one myself.

She is, like me, the middle child.  "I'm the good one" she would proudly announce, while making a halo above her head with her hands.  She is a good one - and so much more!

Daughter #2 was timid and shy, yet would show immense courage in situations that surprised me. The little girl clutching her mother's skirt outside the Pre-K door, afraid to go inside, was also the little girl who would fiercely defend her classmates from bullies as she got older.  The little girl afraid of dogs, is now the owner of two!

I must admit I worried from the time she was a toddler that she would not be able to go away to college, leaving the comfort and security of Mom and home.  But go she did. And she stayed.  Even after the attacks on September 11th, a week after her arrival, caused her campus to go into lockdown.  And during her Senior year, when her then fiance was deployed to Iraq, rising at all hours of the night to talk to him online.  She did whatever she could to show her love and support of him, demonstrating incredible courage and strength.

She knew right from an early age who she wanted to be and what she wanted to do.  And she has followed her dreams and lived out her plan.  She married her Prince Charming right after college and became a teacher.

We have shared our love of teaching and spent time in each other's classrooms.  What a wonderful experience that has been.  And now we share something even more precious. She too is the mother of two daughters.
                         
So Happy Birthday to the beautiful, amazing young woman I have had the privilege to raise. May you know what a most precious gift you have been to me.   Love you!