A Letter To My Daughter

My Sweet Kiradolly,

I wanted this to look pretty with big swirls and curly Q's in my own handwriting so that you would have it to read years from now when you are looking through your scrapbooks, reliving your old memories. I wasn't completely sure what I wanted to say. I just wanted to put pen to paper to tell you how special you are to me. But I had to choose to type this instead and post it here because not only are my hands not cooperating, neither is my printer.
I have been thinking about the hands in our lives and how important they are. Then I realized how weak mine have become over the years. They used to be much stronger than they are today. Over the past 18 years, they have been through more than I ever could have imagined they could have been.
My hands held you close to me when you took your first breaths. They stroked your hair the moment you first opened your eyes. They gave you your first nourishment and your first warmth as they wrapped you in your first soft blanket.
My hands have held you through bad dreams and fevers and snugly hugs. They held you up through your first wobbly steps and learning to ride a bike. My hand held yours on your first day of school. They held you close through heartbreak, tears and lots of laughter. They have been clamped in prayer so tightly that I thought they might break, through every illness and surgery.
Mine are not the only hand that have held you up through all of these years. You have been blessed by many hands that would never see you fall. Your Daddy's hands, Nan and Pap's hands, even the hands of your brother and sister. You are blessed to have so many hands surrounding you.
Today as you graduate, you are stepping out of childhood into adulthood and our hands will be there to help you cross that line. Then my hands will have to find their greatest strength - the strength to let go. To let you take those first steps toward your life. I think that must be the hardest thing these hands have ever had to do.
As I do that, I will propel you back into the hands that placed you in mine all of those years ago. Trust His hands. Take refuge in them. They will never let you fall. Depend on them to guide you to the life that He has waiting for you.
Our hands will still be here when you need them. They will always applaud you, always help you. They may not be as strong as they used to be but they will always be strong enough to love you.
We could not be more proud of you Kiradolly. Now go see what your hands are meant to do.

I love you more than there are stars in the sky my baby.                                  Love, Mom