what's cooking?

Or: An Open Letter to My Daughter

Dear Sarah,

You are about to embark on one of life's most exciting adventures. It will last the rest of your existence. It will take you to emotional highs and lows that are presently unimaginable.

With any luck, you will begin by having the greatest feeling of love and joy (along with some of the greatest physical exhaustion) known only to our "fair sex". It will take hours to achieve, but it will always be your best achievement. You will only remember the thrill and none of the pain.

Do your best to include your hubby, he too will be feeling some of the same emotions, but for him they will be on a totally different plane. To experience the wonder of the new life you are bringing into this world, you must share the event as you have never shared anything before. Remember this will be your first moment as a family-you must release yourselves to each others full range of views.

Enjoy every moment-no matter how frustrating, nerve-racking and angering some of them might be-they only happen once, then your precious child will change and another round of experiences will arise and you will no longer have the prior set to go back too. There will be many times where you will want your first born to "never change", but alas, that is obviously never going to happen. Time passes all too quickly.

It seems that it was just a few weeks ago that I brought you home. And here you are! About to become a mother yourself. How can this be? Didn't we just go for your first makeover? Has it really been six years since you graduated high school?

My hope is that you will discover that while being a parent is the hardest career you'll ever have, it is also, by far, the most rewarding.

May Dylan Brian be just as wonderful a son as you are a daughter!

Yes, we've definitely had our ups and downs. I know that you hated me at times. I'm honest-some decisions I wish I could take back and do a take-over. Sometimes being a mom is a thankless position. You will find that out in the years to come. The end results are never really known. People change in so many ways during the course of their time here on earth. I know you turned out to be an amazingly strong, loving woman to whom I couldn't be more proud of.

In the end, women who are blessed enough to say they have children, hopefully will be blessed to one day become grandmothers. You are about to bestow upon me that honor.

I love you and Thank you,

Love always, Mom