Last year I was telling you the story about how I’ve met my daughter and tried to shape an image of our first year together. That was the year when I had to reinvent myself and recreate beauty out of nothing. This year the paths have been paved, beauty has been seeded and Ephia became one of my rocks, you know, the kind of rock you keep safely in your pocket and polish it until it grows legs and spreads its own beauty out into the world.
This passed year, Ephia amazed us with her growing curiosity, her passion for books, her love for exploring the outdoors and warmed our rainy days with her “hucs” (hugs). She is already showing us what a wonderful human being she is becoming and we are so proud to be able to witness that process. I wouldn’t know how to start, or what to describe first about this year. I feel like I could never make a short summary about everything that happened to us as a family and to me as a mother. Sometimes I wish she could speak full sentences, so that she could tell us if she is as happy with us as we are with her. Ephia is like a magic potion to me. I take a sip every day and I feel alive, I feel I can do anything and face anything. One of her most loved rituals is to take a book from her drawer everyday, sit on the kitchen floor with her legs crossed and study that book for at least half an hour without moving. I often surprise myself watching her without blinking, trying not to make any noise that would disturb her, just smiling her way. Another thing she loves is rain and thunders and she would stop at nothing to smell and taste that rain as close as possible, to feel its beat and breath in its moist. She loves to sing, to dance, to laugh, sometimes to scream out of anger, to be alone, to be with us, to hear me telling her stories for hours in a row, to climb her father’s back and take long walks on his shoulders, to taste our cappucinos, to jump on the bed every night, to pet our cat, to climb anything she can and to take small bites out of the bread leaving small marks on it just like a mouse.
Even if she is two years old now, we are all still adjusting to each other, trying to adapt, to move forward in the best way possible and simply to be happy because we are in each other’s life. It seems we have done it this year too and although very challenging, it has been a wonderful year. So, happy birthday Ephia!!!! I wish for you a year filled with laughter and smiles, “hucs” and happy butterflies, love and new things to explore!
