ZERO more days!!!!!

Well my dearest Mari THE day has finally arrived!!! You need not announce over your bowl of cereal this morning just how many more days until your birthday. Twelve years ago today Josefa and Manuel made that difficult journey into the Tiquisate Hospital to bring their twelfth child into this world. Their world was one of hardships beyond our comprehension. Their love for you was so great that they decided that you should not endure that life and three days later they kissed you good bye and prayed that someone else would give you a life filled with love and happiness in a safer, healthier place. For this gift of theirs your Dad and I are eternally grateful! Someday we may come to know the reason God had for not letting us be together for your first or second birthdays but I am confident that Mama and Papa Salgado saw to it that they were wonderful days filled with love and happiness. I know it as sure as I know that at some point today the phone will ring and a distant voice will say, "Hola Susana! Como esta mi amor?" They will all be crowding around the phone to shout out Feliz Cumpleanos Tati....and how surprised they will be when this year you will be able understand because you have become an excellent student in Spanish at the middle school!! It is stunning to me that this will already be the tenth time we will sneak your pillow present in so that you can know from the minute your eyes open that today is your birthday! That first set of pictures we saw of you are so fresh in my mind! Where did the time go??? How did you manage to sneak in all those years of growing up? Maybe I can" put a brick on your head to slow you down"?? How often have you heard that and how much did I love it when you would grin and respond, "You can't stop God's power Mom!" You cannot know how relieved your Dad and I were when this picture was taken! You had been such a serious little lady as we waited together in that hotel room in Guatemala for the powers that be at the U.S. embassy to find your lost passport. That first night as you screamed and cried and clawed at the hotel room door begging for Mama Salgado to come and get you had broken our hearts altogether. While you never cried again you also had never smiled again....until this picture! Taken the very first morning you woke up in your new room in America. A blessed sign that the future was bright and promising for this new little family. By the way, why is it that your first big smile was for Auntie Peggy?? Or maybe it was the ridiculous life-sized Teletubbie that lifted your spirits? Either way, it has so become YOU to plow through tough times with serious resolve only to break through and grin again!! You're as stubborn as a mule but boy, oh boy once you've decided to do something by darn it gets done! You are no push over and pity the person who tries to tell you what to do!! You have a huge brain and I do not know what God has in store for you but this I'm sure of.....he meant for you to land in a safe place where you would be able to go to school! Just look at this picture every time middle school starts getting you frustrated! Do you remember this day? You could not WAIT to get into pre-school!!!! I was one of the only Moms who got a peck and a "You can leave now!"....and it made me proud even if a little bummed that you were in such a hurry to grow up...even then!! Keep aiming high...remember how nice it felt to see your name on the honor roll!! Keep filling that big brain with wonderful books and classes and the path God has planned will appear! Remember the sun shines brightest above the clouds and what's a few clouds for an angel like you? Okay, so maybe I've gone a little soft and mushy and you're getting a little freaked with this post! Let's say my definition of 'angel' is...say....broad?!?!? I mean you do have that little thing about hair..... like the phase when you'd wear pants on your head and pretend that the legs were long locks of hair??? ...or how you preferred the "spike" curlers over the black sponge curlers???? ...or that infatuation you had with wigs???? ....or should I say, STILL HAVE with wigs?!?!?! You've tried most everything from perms to pink highlights! One thing for sure, you've got a wonderfully unique sense of style and (lucky for you!!) a great head of hair with which to play!! Here's to the surprises you have in store for me and your stylist in the years to come!!!...now back to that angels thing....... Naw, I don't need to make you fit any definition! You are you! Whether on sand...... or snow you are one totally, awesomely, adored, twelve year old daughter!!!!! So as you party tonight remember that not ALL the cheese pizza in this world belongs to you.... and the chocolate frosted cake (as usual!!!) needs to be shared with your guests..... but no need to share your chocolate ice cream (of course it's chocolate!!!!) cone.....that would be just too gross!!! I hope this day is the best birthday ever and here's to many, many, many, many, many, ...okay you get the idea, MORE!!!!!!