My dear Yveline
Tomorrow is a special day
Cannot believe this big age is upon us
We may have to put all of this in a book one day
It has been an incredible journey
It doesn’t look like what we expected
You probably think that we had a quiet ride
The beginning was quite unassuming, to be honest
This is the middle, I believe
Truly, our story is still unfolding
We grew through different chapters
We were the shy and quiet little girl
The angry and moody teenager
The focused and sensitive young adult
We have now become confident.
We lived in many places on two continents
We encounter different cultures and learn to merge them all
But we recently got re-acquainted with our roots
We met so many people along the way
Some were lessons, and others were blessings
There have been seasons of intense pain
We had to grieve so much at times
There have been traumas that have left you shaken
Some wounds have now turned into scars
Some are still open wounds but we are working towards healing
There have also been moments of happiness
We discover amazing places
We laughed among friends
We went a bit crazy sometimes, but nothing too dramatic
We checked some things off our bucket lists
So many questions have been left unanswered
But we are hoping that with time, more will be revealed to us
We are still learning
We are still building
We are still growing
We used some of our gifts, and we blessed people.
We intend to continue to do that because it is our main purpose
We do not own much
and we may not have been seen as successful in the standard of the culture
But we have so much wisdom from our lived experience
So here you are, a very much grown woman
And although things didn’t turn out how we expected
We are grateful for our life.
There is some good in it, there is some fun in it.
There is some beauty in it, there is some joy in it.
But most importantly, you have been carried all the way.
Not sure what the next decade will bring
We are still trying to make some dreams happen
We are late bloomers
Our progress is slow, but it is steady
One thing has been constant
And it will always be constant
You will be carried all the way.