A letter to my children....

I read a blog recently and it was written by a mother in the form of a letter to her daughter. It was beautiful, touching and emotional. I can't promise this letter will be nearly any of those things, but it will be a letter from my heart to my children.

Dear Claire, Madeline and Max,

You are truly, my Moon, my Stars, and my Sky. I look at the three of you and I GET life. My hopes and dreams are HUGE for you...BIGGER than they ever were for me. If I could get you through life WITHOUT pain, sorrow and hurt, I would. But life doesn't work that way. Instead, I'll share with you my hopes. And I know, I can guarantee, life won't be easy. It won't always be fun. It will be work. But life will also be filled with laughter, love, happiness and joy...all the things I experience with you.

Here are my HOPES for you, my Children:

Beauty: You will always know, that no matter what, it truly is what is on the INSIDE that counts. You may be attracted to a person (and they you) for what they look like, but it is their ability to make you smile, laugh, and feel loved that is important. Look for the light that shines within a person when choosing your life partner. Beauty fades but that light will shine FOREVER.

Faith: People can be mean. It will sound so cliche, but it truly is their own insecurities that make them that way. Children will find something, anything, for which they can pick on you. Grown ups judge each other and think they are better than others. It comes down to one word: insecurity. Stand proud and strong in your BELIEFS. You are beautiful on the inside and out. You are exactly who GOD created you to be. Have Faith in that. You are perfectly IMPERFECT.

Growth: Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE makes mistakes. There have been countless times that I have apologized to each one of you for being impatient or short-tempered. You will stumble and fall through out life, making mistakes and my hope is you learn from those mistakes. APOLOGIZE to those you hurt (even if it's yourself) and learn and grow.

Strength: Drugs. Please don't. Please. There has never been a single person that succeeds in life: career, emotional, relationships...ANY aspect, while doing drugs. It's ok to say no. It's ok for your 'friends' to make fun of you for saying no. If you need ideas on how to give yourself a healthy high, I'll be happy to list a few off: go rock climbing, run a marathon, sky-diving....I'll join you. You will be TESTED in this and you must find that strength to be you: intelligent, kind, funny, sweet, tender hearted without drugs in your life.

Perseverance: I feel like an old lady saying this, but kids nowadays (See? Old lady talking...please keep reading ;)) do not seem to realize the importance of not giving up. All that is good in the world will not be handed to you. You will have to WORK hard, set goals and yes, struggle to achieve those goals. You CAN do it. You WILL do it. I BELIEVE in you and more importantly, GOD believes in you. Find inspiration in people you know and stories you hear of people doing the unthinkable. Your Nana went to college in her 40s and became a nurse, use her as your Beacon of Perseverance.

I will never be able to say it enough. I love you. Each one of you fits perfectly into my heart. I'm your biggest fan and I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines in this thing called, LIFE.

Always,
Mommy