to abby on your fifth birthday

To Abby,

Today you are five years old. One whole hand.

We celebrated your birthday yesterday in a very adult fashion with a trip to the museum of science and dinner out.

Today, you celebrated with a party at school.

After school, as we ran a few errands the special treatment continued. A special sticker from the cashier at the post office and a dollar bill slipped into your hand by the man bagging our groceries when he learned it was your birthday.

"For many more" he told you with a smile.

Back home, you got to choose your favorite foods, your favorite games and blow out more candles. And we still have your actual party yet to come.

Your life is so blessed. So simple and so happy.

Even outside of your birthday, your days are a blur of activities and special treats. Oma dropping by with a little treat for you. Mommy taking you on a spur of the moment trip. A party. A simple trip to the library. An invitation from a friend to the movies.

Your face is often painted and your acquire more candy than you know what to do with. With wardrobe and scheduling manged for you, you bounce from one activity to the next without a care in the world.

School is all fun and games. Literally.

Your friendships are still simple and straight forward. You have friends and you like to play with them, but there is none of the drama, fighting and competitiveness that I see in groups of girls just a few years older than you. You just do not compare yourself to your peers in any meaningful way yet.

You are who you are, and you are one hundred percent happy with that. You are eager to learn and explore the world, which still holds so many surprises for you. The harsh realities of the adult world swirl around you, but none of it has any real impact on you yet.

You are a happy kid, and that makes me happier than words can say.

I know that as you head off to school next year things will begin to shift, but I hope that you will always be able to hold on to some of the simple happiness that is your life right now.

All my love,
Mommy