Happy 20th Birthday Natalie

Dear Natalie,

Well, it's finally here, the day you have been waiting for, to be able to officially say you are not a teenager. Funny how you always hated growing older and now you are trying to rush all this growing up all at once. Don't be in such a big hurry to be an "adult". If you think you are stressing now about how to pay for things, just wait until you do have all of those housing responsibilities and you don't know how you're going to pay for food. There's no need to rush this. It will all happen in time and hopefully when you're more financially ready to take it on, and then you'll be wishing you could go back to when things were simpler and you didn't have all these bills to worry about.

We always want what's best for you and want to keep you from having to struggle as much as we can. It's not that we don't want you to grow up, it's that we don't want you to jump into things you are not ready for yet.

Do not ever settle. You deserve to have the best of everything and the best from everyone. Someone who can accept you for who you are and all of you just as you come.

I will always be with you. I am the whisper in the leaves as you walk down the street, the smell of your favorite foods, the scent of life itself. I was your first love, your first friend, and even your first enemy. Nothing on this earth can separate us though. Not time, not space, and not even death.

I hope 20 is everything you thought it would be and all of your dreams come true. Happy birthday!

Love,
Mommy