Dear O,
You are fire and ice, sugar and spice. You are so much like the ocean - raging waves, whispering peace.
Although you don't have red hair, you and Anne Shirley are truly kindred spirits. Intelligent. Stubborn. Winsome.
Almost always with a book in your nose or a pencil in your hand, you remind me a bit of me at your age. I find notebooks scattered around the house - poems, stories, research facts, dictionary definitions, and - especially - science notations.
Here is where we differ. You keep an inventing notebook. Tattered and peach, it contains sketches and diagrams of all kinds of inventions with acronyms. You read science and astronomy books by the stack. You want to be an astronaut - even if you die in space. Those are your exact words, which make me quake just a bit.
I will remember you at this age in jeans or overalls - with pencil smudges on your hands and robots on your mind. You recoil at the mention of dresses, make-up, manicures, or malls. You'd much rather be outside - examining your rock collection, bike-riding the track your dad created in the backyard, kicking a soccer ball around with astounding intensity and speed, or solving detective cases.
The only time I find you in dresses is for performances - which are frequent around here. Dramatic and expressive, you have stage presence that would make any Director sit up in his/her seat. You do voices and accents. Your dance numbers are magnetic. You sing with gusto and pizazz - a huge voice from a tiny body.
On Christmas Day, you cried when you opened your gifts because you were just so incredibly happy and grateful. I know you've grown tired of receiving the Thankfulness Award at school (4 years in a row!), but I will never grow weary of your thankful heart. It's a truly admirable quality that we all should emulate daily. Thank YOU for that.
Since you are one of four children, I think one of your biggest wishes is to be REMARKABLE, to be seen exactly for who you are. You are desperate not to be a copy or to be copied. Well, let me reassure you, L - you are dynamic and original and one-of-a-kind.
You are a force that people follow. You are blazing your own path, building your own bridges (and your own rockets, as the case may be). My prayer is that you will use all of your energy, your curiosity, and your talents to glorify God and to serve others all of your days. Fame is fleeting and mostly destructive, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Oh, L, you are a wonder. Beautifully created to do good works. Whether you end up wearing a space suit or rider's chaps or scrubs, know that I am proud of you and I see you for what you are - extraordinary. Happy Birthday.