Sweet Sixteen

The doctors thought you would never live to see your third birthday. The social workers thought you should be sent to an institution. Your foster mother just knew she was sending you to our home to die.

They were all so very wrong.

You’ve grown into a beautiful young woman. You are so full of life and love that I can’t in my wildest imagination see you any other way. You are a daredevil, a free spirit that refuses to submit to society’s limits. Your heart sees beauty in nature, and your fingers translate that beauty into works of art.

You live with abandon. You love with intensity, and you have proven to the world that disabilities are a mere annoyance, not a hindrance to a full life.

You are strong and willful, opinionated and argumentative. You know what you want and you refuse to let anything stand in your way. You won’t be put in a box or labeled or categorized. Your life is your own, and you are willing to let the world know that.

You are my beautiful daughter – my heart – and one of the five reasons that my every day is glorious and wonderful. You challenge me, but I love that. You inspire me and make me want to be the best mother I can be. You have never been an ‘easy’ child to raise, but loving you wholly and completely is the easiest thing I have ever done.

My beautiful Ashley – my Sweet 16 – Happy Birthday from the most blessed mother in the world!!

I love you,

Mama