Birthday Blessings

So the thing about you K2, is you sort of sneak up on people. For those who know you well, they'll think that's an odd thing to say. I mean, you're pretty forceful by nature. You're not quiet, you're not shy, you most certainly are not timid. You have a way of making your presence known every where you go. I marvel at how you insist that people notice you. You're not obnoxious or even annoying about it - you're just confident in your conviction that you are worth knowing.

But I'm not talking about any of that when I say you sneak up on people. I've had the privilege of watching you now, for 6 blessed years. And I see the way people are around you - how they clamor for your attention. I see how kids race to give you a hug or sit next to you, I see how their parents call out your name to say hi or how their faces light up when you call out their names. I see how strangers will get lost in conversation with you - sharing all kinds of information and finding little trinkets to give you or small compliments to pay. I see how they want to make you feel as good as you've made them feel. It's all very subtle. It's not that you walk around with a spotlight on you. You're an adorable little girl, but there are lots of those in this world. There's something else - some 'je ne sais quoi' that I can never fully pinpoint but that is as much a part of your being as your hair color or your foot size or your attitude or your spunk. You make people feel good.

You sparkle. You shine. When you direct your attention to those around you they shine as well, and I have yet to meet anyone - young or old, male or female - who is not drawn in by your inexplicable light. You make life brilliant.

And even though its your birthday, somehow I feel like its me that's been given the gift.