Happy 19th Birthday, Steph!

  Just got done wrapping a few presents for Stephanie to open tomorrow on her 19th birthday. As I put the finishing touches on a twin bed size Disney Princess comforter, matching princess pillows and a spinning Cinderella battery operated toothbrush geared for ages 3- 7, I allow myself the requisite time to mourn the loss of my adult daughter while celebrating her perpetual toddlerhood.
  Today, I should be readying her room as she returns from her first year of college. Anticipating a summer filled with mom and daughter outings, conversations out on the deck at night, fights about her rights to stay out past midnight, endless pacing and clock watching as she outs with friends and “Mom, can I borrow your car??”
   I sift thru the pile of artwork she brings home for the refrigerator each week – a mish mash of tissue paper squares on butterfly cutouts, coloring book pages filled with the skills of an infant scribble, a handmade Mother’s Day card with a giant STEPHANIE on the inside and, of course, a LIST. That LIST of hers. Despite not being able to speak very well, or follow commands, she is able to type out words of things she wants … Princess and the Frog video. Princess and the Frog blanket. 101 Dalmation video. Jasmine doll. Mermaid doll. Anastatia doll … 100 or so things.
   Thomas the Tank Engine video. My 19 year-old daughter wants a Thomas the Tank Engine video. I should be wrapping a Coach bag, a giftcard to Anthropologie, an Ipad.
  I got her a Princess cake. Balloons. We will share a lunch at Sonic with her dad tomorrow. She will be forgotten by people, but never by us. It will be a day of joyful and loving celebration for her!
   Tomorrow marks an official two years until she is done with school. Two years of intense fund raising, planning and hoping.