Sixteen
Dearest Lauren -
You know how we do this by now.
You get a year older, and I sit here, gobsmacked at how incredible you are.
I try to find the words to express the overwhelming emotions I feel, but it’s not unlike trying to catch fireflies.
Bless me, I have tried.
On your eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth, I have tried.
I don’t want to give the virus more airtime...this is YOUR day. Your month. Your year.
Because your sixteenth is...SIGNIFICANT.
But the virus bears mentioning because it has forced us into close quarters with nowhere to hide. We have watched, up close and personal the YOU you are. The realest YOU you are.
Kind and impatient.
Thoughtful and silly.
Sweet and salty.
Focused and lighthearted.
Simple in your desires, complex in your emotions.
But do you also know how courageous you are?
You aren’t afraid to feel.
And you’re not afraid to question.
And you’re not afraid to challenge.
And you’re not afraid to take a stand...for what matters.
So we wanted to mark the You You Are in the best way we could given the restrictions of the physical distancing.
Instead of a bash, and sitting fifth row at Hamilton as planned, we surprised you with a Sweet-Sixteen-in-Quarantine-Surprise-Zoom-Party.
And your friends showed UP. They made you stuffies, and original art, and Tik-Toks and videos and an original song that makes me cry every time I hear it.
So instead of me trying and failing to find the words, I’ll defer to those lyrics written and performed by your friends:
How to explain it?
Trying to find the words to say out loud
Where to begin this?
You always make me laugh somehow
Wish we could find a better way to be with you right now.
Life’s better when you’re around.
Aren’t your father and I the lucky ones? We get to be around YOU.
As you evolve into your truest self, independent and carefree, certain of mind and heart, you are the all.
And we give deepest thanks.
Click here for my free training:
Five ICONIC shifts leaders use to overcome Imposter Complex.