Holding Hope

This is Danielle. She looks grown here and I have to wonder if she sees what I see? Does she see herself as beautiful, smart and strong? Does she see herself as filled with light and laughter? Does she see herself as standing at the world's precipice, readying for her leap into its arms and its future? In five short days she will be thirteen, and I wonder if she knows that she is everything she ought to be and has everything she needs to be happy, content and successful?

I worry lately that she doesn't know these things, that she doesn't believe these things. If I could give her this as her birthday gift, it would be bought, wrapped and sealed with a kiss. These things though... they aren't available online, at the store or anywhere else. These are gifts she will have to learn to find and accept as truth all on her own.

My girls are as different as night and day. Autumn's self-confidence is something to stand in awe of. Strength and fearlessness come from a place I think only her Grandma Roberts can match. Danielle is more like how I remember myself, and if memories remain intact... teenage years aren't kind to girls who second guess themselves, who don't fit into a perfect category. I have hope in this generation that there is a place for those who tend to wander, though who are not lost. Finding herself won't be easy, this young woman who dares not travel the road often followed. This young woman who defies stereotypes will learn one day that fitting in isn't all its cracked up to be. Not when she stands out so tenderly, in her kind ways, her easy laugh and her original thoughts.

I think one day she'll see what I see. And I think she'll love herself for it.