“You were the size of a poppy seed when I fell in love with you.
Barely a blip on the ultrasound screen yet my heart was completely overflowing.
In that instant I knew that my life would never be the same.
Sure, I had that same job, the same home, the same surroundings.
But this love, in its fiercest, purest form, was unlike anything I had ever experienced.
I never believed in the notion of love at first sight but when they first laid you on my chest and I looked at you through the tears, I knew it to be true.
Unconditional, infinite love.
Nothing about you was easy.
It was as if your strong-willed personality was seeping out immediately after birth.
I cried, I wondered if I was getting anything right, and I loved more than I thought possible.
The toddler days were an unexpected mixture of bliss and frustration.
You often pushed my hand away when I tried to help.
Your independence blazing in your tiny body.
I literally chased you constantly because you never walked, you ran.
I went to bed more exhausted than ever before.
And every night I thanked God for blessing me with you.
School started and I was instantly on the receiving end of mess.
The physical mess which ended up in discarded shoes, papers, bags, and food littered throughout the house.
And your messy heart that knows when it gets home that is safe to fall apart.
The mess that looks more like anger and frustration than letting go.
And my heart loved you through it, even at its messiest.
When you become a teenager and the days are filled with hot, angry tears that sting our eyes and words spoken out of anger float around us.
The days when silence fills the room and doors are slammed more than opened.
When you continually push me away, trying to find your way in this big, wide world.
Even then, especially then, I will love you.
When you are old and gray, and I am older and grayer.
When the world has long stopped seeing you as a baby, I will look at you and still see the one I rocked in my arms.
And I will love you.
When I am no longer of this world, you will still be my daughter.
I will always be your mother.
And I will love you.
My beautiful, strong-willed daughters, I loved you when you were still a dream and have loved you every day since.
Thank you for being mine.”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Tiffany Yoder. You can follow their journey on Instagram, Facebook, and her blog. Do you have a similar experience? We’d like to hear your important journey. Submit your own story here. Be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories, and YouTube for our best videos.
Read more from Tiffany here:
‘Bossy’ Little Girls Grow Up To Be Assertive Women Who Change The World
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