this girl
let me tell you a thing or two about this girl. she is 17 going on 18, officially today.
she was born into an unwed mother {me}, and raised my a single mom {me again} until she was seven.
I didn't even name her for crying out loud. i was too out of it, so my mom named her, i just insisted her middle name be violet. so madelynn violet it was. and still is. although we call her madz.
she didn't even have her own room until she was 4. we shared a lot, and a room was one of them.
this girl didn't have a lot, although she was not deprived. it was before computers were
around in homes, or cell phones, so none of those things took up our time. and with not being
able to afford toys {toys came at Birthdays and Christmas' from family and friends}, we had
two things--EACH OTHER.
i didn't have days being concerned about how cute her invite would
be, or how the decorations would look. these things are mostly meaningless, and i think are done for us, the mom's that want things to look pretty and good. but my daughter has never given a second thought to decorations hardly. sure, she has appreciated it and thanked me for making an effort and making her day special when I could, but decor and the invite is the last thing she noticed.
i like to snap a few pictures the week of her birthday, and this is one i got of her after school in that rockin outfit. {instead of What I Wore Wednesdays, I've contemplated doing What She Wore Wednesdays, cuz she's always so cute}!
oh the days before digital; her newborn picture!
believe it or not i use to not like pink at all. her wardrobe consisted in red, tan, and black mostly.
now i love pink!
my maid of honor at my wedding
but I think it happens because they are ready to sort of learn to grow on their own, and mature. And I honestly think we are ready too. it just brings us to a new season, a new time. we all go through it. it's just at the time when they are so young, and it doesn't seem like things could ever be different than what we are use to, it seems impossible, but trust me, it's a natural ebb and flow.
i didn't say it was easy.
there's a lot of holding tight and letting go in parenting.
in action on stage in The Bacchae, a Greek Tragedy that she did her Freshman Year.
back stage/dressing room, love this shot
16 year old pictures
Mother's Day 2010
Lyrical
Ballet
Aw, 8th Grade Formal, it was such a big thing at the time!
On stage as The Cat In The Hat in Suessical the Musical in 8th Grade
Madz was 15 here, and it was the day to me, that she started really changing. she started to resemble a woman. it was a hard one to swallow. so bittersweet.
Oh 7th Grade, you were so yesterday!!! To me she is still in 7th grade.
Pointe
with one of her BF's in Milwaukee/Wisconsin River Summer 2011
Her and her only sibling. trust me, i wanted her to have a human sibling.
NYE/2011
if you met this girl, she would make your day. she always wears a smile.
teachers want her for a student.
she is happy about life, and extremely compassionate. she is accepting, and a friend to all.
that was one of the main things i taught her was to befriend that person sitting alone at the lunch table.
to be kind to every type of person, and she has.
she is polite to a default; repeats thank you's over and over.
she has a heart of gold, and has the capacity to light up a whole room. ask anyone.
she is fun, funny, happy, smart, and pure.
she's a dancer, an actress and a star performer in show choir. she plays the contra alto bass,
and is the class Secretary. "they" say I've earned "bragging rights" but i'll quit while i'm ahead.
Happy Birthday to the girl who has shown me that my heart has the capacity to love painfully {in the way that you love them so much it hurts} and joyfully at the same time more than I ever thought possible. You are only one, but you are more than I could ever have asked for. You have done my heart good.
Comments
No joke, this post made me tear up. Maybe because I can see the depths of love from you .. to her? Or because I know the struggles that you had to encounter along the way, trying to shape and mold her ... single handedly?
I am so blessed to have stumbled upon your blog and to have 'met' such a lovely person such as yourself. :)
x
Marielle
allister bee blog
Happy {late} Birthday to your sweet girl(:
She is REALLY pretty { looks like her mama to }
Oh... and I participated in the Suessical Musical to a while ago! One of the most fun musicals ever(:
Jazzie
www.jsheaa.blogspot.com
http://mandycrandell.blogspot.com/