Yup, you read that right, I have a 36 year old! My daughter TYL is 36 years old today! I still can’t believe it!

She was 8 years old when I met her, closer to 8.5 years old, but she was a bonified 8 year old! And boy did she put me through the ringer on occasion! When I first met her, she was nice, but skeptical, totally get that! She wanted to see who I was and what I was about, very fair. Her brother on the other hand, just turned 7 and he was like…i wuv you! But not my girl, and I have to tell you, I respect that.

Every time I saw her, every time we got to spend time together, I got to know her more and more and she was a card. Funny, silly, happy, snarky, curious, skeptical, and smart, she and her brother, both very smart, sometimes not a lick of common sense between them, but what do you expect from teenagers?! When I tell you she is smart, I wish I could show you the gold cords on her graduation robes, smart.

She was set in her ways, had her way of thinking about things, had her opinions, but so open to trying new things. She was always put together, even if we were spending the day hanging out at the house watching movies, she was showered, dressed very nicely and face on, she had her own style and way of doing things. We would go to movies, museums, the park, go on adventures, or just stay home and snuggle on the sofa watching movies.

We loved traveling together, we would go to Savannah, GA, Chattanooga, TN, Orlando, FL, and NYC a few times to see my family. Since we were living in Atlanta, GA at the time, the weekends with us were full of new experiences. New places to eat, explore, and discover.

I loved birthdays, sometimes it was a party with friends at a skating rink or bowling alley, sometimes it was a party with friends at our house and then, always…a special dinner out for their birthdays. The next year they always had the option…did they want to choose or did they want me to choose. Most of the time I got to choose and it was always something fun and different, I loved that they trusted me for that.

Did I mention silly? I remember one day running through a parking lot, don’t worry, I checked for cars, and she and her brother asked me if I was an adult…um…great question! There was the time I was taking her and her brother to skate night for their school at the local rink and after I checked them in, they asked who my teacher was! Um…I’m their mom! I was about 27 or 28 at the time, and they were in elementary school…sigh…

I’ll never forget…on my 30th birthday we were going to Six Flags, and I said something and she rolled her eyes, she was 13, totally expected. I looked at her and I said ‘do not roll your eyes at me…and on my birthday’, but what I was thinking was…I’m a mom! And I was over the moon!

We lost touch for a few years, I would reach out to wish them both a happy birthday, they would sometimes respond, and totally understandable, they were still finding their feet at that time. But one year…as I do every year on her birthday, I reached out and we had a very wonderful exchange and she told me she was married and getting ready to have a baby, and she wanted me to be a part of his life. What? My baby is having a baby? I was in the middle of an airport boo-hooing so many tears of joy, I’m sure people thought I was mad!

When we reconnected in person it was amazing, it was as if no time had passed, and so much time had passed. Here was this amazing, grown, smart, funny, intelligent, kind, caring woman standing before me, where was the girl? The teenager who fought with me? The teenager who rolled her eyes at me? She was in there, but on the inside, it was who and what made her the woman she is today, with so much more.

She is an amazing mother, she once told me I taught her how to be a step mom, you’ll never know what those words meant to me. Not only is she an awesome mother, she is a fabulous daughter, granddaughter, sister, cousin, just a top notch human being. This is a woman I am honoured to have in my life and treasure our relationship and bond and I don’t see that changing ever.

I’ll never forget the first time they spent the night, I didn’t sleep, I heard them turn over in their sleep and I even went out to check that they were still breathing a few times…keep in mind, they were 7 and 8 at the time! They made me a mum and I knew from that moment, I felt a love like I had never known. I know I didn’t give birth to her, but she is a part of me, and that is something I will treasure to the end of my days.

TYL, a very happy birthday my girl, I love you very much.