My daughter, my friend

Someone said this was National Daughter Week.  I decided to check on that and Googled it.  I got responses that claimed that special week is in January, February and June.  If I looked farther, I might have found more.  I didn't bother to look, because for me every week is Fabulous Daughter Week.  Nineteen years ago at this time I was awaiting the birth of my first child, who I knew would be a girl, even though the doctor said he couldn't tell from the sonogram.  I had known from the moment my home pregnancy test confirmed I was pregnant that I was having a girl, which is strange, because up until that moment I had wanted to have a boy first.  My older brother had always meant so much to me that I just felt like every girl needed a big brother.  But when my baby started to form inside of me, I knew immediately that it was not to be.  I would have a girl first, and that was fine with me.

Her birth wasn't without complications.  She was reluctant to leave the womb and refused to budge, even as her oxygen started to be a problem.  The doctor said we had to do a C-section.  I didn't care.  I just wanted her to get here.  Once she did, she had to be in ICU for a few days.  I went to her when it was feeding time because they couldn't bring her to me.  It seems our blood was incompatible, which is funny, because in every other way, we are not only compatible but seem to be so much the same.  Only she's prettier than me and smarter and sweeter and more fun, more loyal and more active. 

Her reluctance to leave me has proven to be a constant in life.  I tell people that the doctor forgot to cut the umbilical cord.  Her attachment to me has not lessened, not even through those emotionally charged teen years.  She clings to me even now, saying I'm her best friend and she will never leave me.  I would love to believe that will always be, but I know that eventually she'll realize she has to leave me in order to become the great person she is meant to be.  I feel that time is quickly approaching as she does more and more without me and has begun to look toward going away to finish her education.  I feel her slipping away and wish I could turn back the clock, but life isn't like that.  I know that wherever she goes and whatever she does, she will make me proud as she leaves a beautiful footprint on this world. 

For now, she is my helper and my friend, the person I spend my nothing special time with, making even the most insignificant moments a bright spot in my life.  I hope I've had an influence on her.  I know she has on me.  She made me a better person.  She taught me to love unconditionally and completely.  She taught me how much my mother loves me, something I never imagined before I became a mother myself.  My daughter has shown me unselfish service, a love for life and an appreciation for the little things.  I hope she has a daughter like herself some day so she can experience what I have been through - a life brightened by the natural light shining through the eyes of my biggest fan. 

I love you, Tirzah.  Happy Daughter's Week, whenever it is.