Well I am an adult! Today I got to celebrate my birthday with my family and some of my best friends. This week I will have two friend celebrations and I cannot wait!
He said
Hard to believe but the whole point of this blog that started a little over eighteen years ago as a means for us to document our journey to becoming parents and then what happened in Emelia’s life, finally arrived at the spot we long thought might be the part where we part ways with weekly updates. Now, we’ve since decided that we might keep this going as there will still be major developments in hers and our life we will want her to be able to look back on. But, the point of this long-winded intro is that we – as of today – have an eighteen year old in our midst.
This morning, a mere 6,575 days from when we first met and you made us a family I reflect on all that we have had the fortune of seeing you navigate as you become the young woman that you are. You’ve overcome some learning setbacks and once we got that sorted and found you the right supports, you flourished. We saw you step out and forge your own journey, even when we worried if you would have the courage to do so. And, we saw you flourish as you hit your stride in high school and find your people – an amazing and caring group of friends who make you feel as important as you do them. And we saw you try all manner of sports – some that even terrified us you cheer you on in (rugby… wrestling).
This week was Emelia’s last week of her penultimate semester of high school. It was a lot of exam review and finalizing projects and presentations. Emelia was wrapped on all that she needed to submit for her classes so the week was pretty boring for her, but she did make use of every moment she wasn’t at school, Cheer or work to be studying and getting ready for her exams that start tomorrow. She has 3 exams and will be wrapped up by Wednesday. She feels like she’s in a very good spot both for her grades going into the exams and the amount of studying she has done as well. She’s really looking forward to being done this semester and moving on to her last every of high school next week.
With her birthday falling today, she’s decided to do her birthday celebrations in a little bit of different way. First this evening we had my brothers and sister-in-law over, along with our nieces to have a smaller it’s officially your birthday family gathering at the house. Some of her besties also made it over. Then, Wednesday, she will get her tattoo ( – more on that from Danielle) and then her close group of friends will come here to have pizza and hang out. And, then, Friday there will be a bit of a bigger gathering of her larger span of girl friends from high school — where Danielle and I will seconder ourselves to the bedroom to give them free reign of the main floor like we did at New Year’s.
As I have long maintained, our journey with Emelia has felt like this remarkable, duplicitous journey that has gone by in the blink of an eye, while simultaneously feeling like more in that happened to us in those 18 years than in the 35 years that preceded it.
Emelia: It’s been an honour and a delight to watch you become the wonderful woman that you are. You’re funny. You’re dedicated. You’re persistent. You’re loving. You’re beautiful. You’re smart. You’re courageous. You’re independent. But, most of all you have a good sense of who you are and what you want to become. You may have made me a Father and your Mum… well a Mother, but the biggest thing you did was made this family was whole.
Happy Eighteenth Birthday Boo! Can’t wait to see what you make of this world!!
❤️
She said
First a message directly to Emelia – We have gone from 0 to 18 in a blink of an eye. Words cannot express how proud we are of the person you have become. You never take the easy path, you work harder than anyone I know to achieve your goals. In this last year you have found your voice and have achieved more than I could have dreamed for you. You have found your people and the world sees what we have always known. You are fierce, smart, beautiful, loyal and love with all your heart. The biggest joy of my life has been seeing you grow and to be your mama. Love you forever Boo Bear.
The words the days are long but the years are short has never felt more real than today. It seems like yesterday I was holding our newborn daughter in my arms and today she becomes and adult! Things have not always been easy for Emelia, she has overcome more than most and but her challenges have made her stronger than anyone I know. She is firm in her beliefs and over the last year she has really become her own person, she has realized her worth and will accept nothing less than the best for herself. It hasn’t always been easy doing the right thing and stating up to those who have treated her so badly but through this she has found her people, she had the most incredible friend group and that group has really grown. She has her core group of Bri, Belle, Ashley, Shai, Carter and Matheus but in addition to that she has this incredible larger group of friends. This week we will see them all at two parties.
This week Emelia’s friends celebration had to be delayed because this week is final exams for semester one for Emelia and her friends. Emelia has spent most of her weekend studying for all the exams, she seems not too nervous and feeling ready for the exams. Tomorrow is English, with Emelia’s dyslexia English testing has always been a challenge, she has pretty strong grade going in and with the final only being worth 10% she isn’t too concerned about how her overall grade will be impacted. The next day is law and her last exam is Wednesday for Challenge and Change. Overall Emelia has really strong grades and she has studied a lot for all her exams so we are feeling great about how she has prepared for this.
Once her last exam is done she and I are heading downtown for her much anticipated birthday present from John and I. This is 3 years in the making. Emelia for 3 years has been wanting a special tattoo, she has worked on a design for the last 2 years and we told her if she still loved the same design on her 18th we would pay for it as her birthday present. This design has deep meaning for her as it is a family bouquet, in particular a family and memorial one. She has birth flowers for my mum (as well as me since my mum and I were born in the same month), John, herself, her grandma, and memorial flowers for her poppa and Uncle Greg. The design is beautiful and the tattoo artist designed something even more beautiful than she imagined in her head.
After the tattoo her closest friends are coming over for pizza and a hangout, and then Friday her big girlfriend group are all coming over for a girls night, all 20 of them! We love that so many people love our girl and see how amazing she is. One more happy birthday boo bear! I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.