my sweet Olivia Mary

Odds are that if you have enough kids, eventually you will get one who is exactly like you.  Be careful what you wish for.  If that is true, I probably had mine first.  Because like it or not, good or not, my eldest seems to resemble his mom in all the wrong ways.  But this post isn't about him.  Or me.

If you are really fortunate.lucky.blessed, you will get one that is nothing like you.  You will get a child who is everything you want to be.

Today is the 12th birthday of my daughter, Olivia Mary.  She isn't perfect.  But she's a lot closer than I.

As a parent I like to think that I have so much wisdom to impart on my dear child's behalf.  So much instruction to share that will guide them down the path of knowledge and good choices.  I am sure that I have taught Olivia a thing or two---like how to brush your teeth and take a shower at the same time.  But what she has taught me is of far great significance.

She is patient.  Patient beyond anything I can comprehend.  Patient like:  people are pressing hard on her in every direction and she reacts with patience not anger.

She is calm.  Which, I believe, goes well with patient.  I wouldn't know, however, as I am neither.  She reacts slowly and with reservation.  She isn't swayed by what is or is not happening around her.

She is thoughtful.  Thoughtful, like..."I get that it must be challenging to do all that you do...how can I help?"  How rare is that?

She is forgiving.  Oh so forgiving.  Forgiving when forgiveness has not be sought.  Forgiving like, "You hurt me and I am scared to open myself back up to you, but I will forgive and believe the best about you."

She is nurturing.  She fulfills her role of big sister not as an obligation but as a pleasure.  Sure, if anyone tries her patience, calmness, thoughtfulness, and forgiveness---it most often is her siblings, but yet she loves on.  Not with a bunch of flowery-wordy statements, amounting to little---but with substance.  A book picked up and read to a little sister, a quick game of Battleship with a little brother, a 'spa' experience with a sister who longs to be just like her.

She cares, but doesn't.  She is so perfectly content being who she is.  She looks for the lonely and left-out, even when it means she will, herself, be left out of many 'circles'.  She doesn't worry about what others have or don't have, what they can or can't do.  She cares deeply about others, but doesn't let her 'care' become an excuse to change who she is as a person.  She isn't what a lot of other people are, and while she may sometimes wish that she was, she handles her own strengths and shortcomings with the grace of an angel.

No, she isn't perfect.  She rolls her eyes at us.  She likes to drag her feet about following simple instructions.  She doesn't make her bed every time we ask.  She isn't a very good bowler.  She doesn't always try her hardest.  Math isn't her forte.

She isn't perfect.  But I wouldn't want her any other way.