To my nearly adopted daughter

I woke up this morning thinking of you. I wonder what you look like now, how have your facial features developed, in my mind you will always be that chubby cheeked baby that I adored so much. I imagine you are in preschool this year, or maybe your mom is homeschooling you. I'll bet pink is your favorite color, maybe it's purple. I wonder what your favorite toy is, and what is your favorite song to sing when you are being pushed on the swings.

As I thought about you this morning, as I do on many mornings, I realized just how many mothers you have out there, waking, thinking of you, loving you from unknown places, in silent sorrow. You will know about your biological mother, the amazing woman who let you go so that you may have a better life. Maybe you will also know about the beautiful woman who raised you until you were nearly a year old, knowing she would have to give you up. I am the woman who prayed for you before you were born, who fell in love with you the moment I first saw your picture and who loves you even still. Me, you will probably never know about. I found myself wondering just how many women, wake up in the morning, loving you. You must be one pretty special kid.

It is my honor to love you, I will always hold you close in my heart. My hope is that just maybe, when life is hard for you, you will feel that stranger love, that motherly love from all those mysterious women who wake up thinking of you, and it will sustain you when you need it most. Be well my almost daughter, love abundantly.