As the sun shines...

...the snow melts.

As time passes we grow.

From her first wisp of fair hair, to the first time she went to the hairdressers alone.
From her first word, to the first time she stood her ground and won.
Her first step, to her first late night out.
Her first day at school, to her exam results.
From her first boyfriend, to her first heartbreak.

You've watched every step, shared every laugh, wiped away every tear.
And now on the eve of her eighteenth, you worry she's losing her youth, her innocence, her freedom.
More so you worry that you are losing her.

You can never lose them, no matter how old they get and wherever they are. You are their default, their go to, their lifeline, their comfort, their home.

So, just as the snow melts in the winter garden leaving behind new growth and a sense of new life...
So too the relationship changes. It grows, it develops and takes on a new direction, a new lease of life.

Grieve, grieve for the little girl all grown up, but do not grieve for yourself.

Celebrate the daring, the courage and the adventure, and ask to join in once in a while, you may be pleasantly surprised, Truly you will. x