At Fifteen

Yesterday, I had a huge reason to be thankful:

My eldest (import) daughter, Em, turned 15. I can't believe I'm the mother to a 15 year-old teenager. Holy weird. I sound like my mother when I say I feel like I was 15 only a few years ago.. The only difference between my mother's words and mine, is it actually WAS only a few years ago. So many times I think that I'm not that much older than Em, but the weirder part is that, this year, I turn TWICE her age! LOL



15 was a huge year for me. Because of that, my heart aches and jumps for joy and the things she's going to experience this year-- both the good and bad. The memories she'll make. The lessons she'll learn. The imprint she'll continue to make in my life.



Em is amazing. She has the heart of her father-- sensitive, emotional, easily offended, and willing to lay her life down for other's happiness even at the expense of her own sometimes. She is fun and vibrant, and like any teenage girl, goes from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows within one single conversation.



I know sometimes she hates me and I'm ruining her life. :) I'm an evil stepmother, it's my job. But I know she loves me too. When she calls me "Mom", there is no better thing she could say to me.



Em is the best big sister my girls could have ever imagined. She's a great example of honesty-- and although I'm the much smarter mother than mine was :) and I catch her in most of them, she hardly ever lies to us. Even when she knows it's not something we want to hear. She confides in me, she respects me, and she obeys me. For not being my biological daughter, this is a huge display of love. I'm so lucky to be one of her two mothers.



She recently watched the kids EVERY. DAY. for two weeks while Will and I were part of the play. She fed them dinner, she got them into bed, she kept them safe and dealt with their nightly fights and their separation anxiety while I was never home. Without a doubt, she's beautiful inside and out... turning heads of young men everywhere she goes. Yikes.



I love Em to pieces. She's lived with me since September, and I admit that because of that I am closer to her than to her other full-siblings. But that's just expected. She's seen me cry, seen me get angry, seen me yell, but she's also seen me hug. and love. and pray. She is a daughter ANYONE would be proud of.

Happy 15th Em!!!! xoxo