Wednesday 14 March 2018

post for my daughter, who has just turned 17


The post below was originally written in 2009. I have just updated it a bit but the core message remains the same.

my beautiful and darling cherub

as your enter the seventeenth year of your life today i feel like digging out and caressing one of my favourite mementoes from your earlier days the time when you grabbed my thumb for the first time there was so much energy and vim in that squeeze your mum and i laughed our heads off after because from then on you showed your passion for people by hugging them very tightly whilst sucking in your cheeks it is one of your trademarks gestures now i also remember when i used to sing to you that famous song performed by none other than bola de nieve drume negrita whilst tucking you in bed and you would make the motion of the pau pau with your hands in the air you were only two but you could already recognise a good tune

meine liebe tochter mi chiquipeque ma chère fille i also remember the first word you uttered like your brother you went for the practical agua thus making sure that you would never die of thirst in a spanish speaking country and it made me so proud because you like your brother are the product of this globalised world of ours my dear daughter with your hebrew first name your french middle one and your spanish surnames yes you have big blond curls reaching down your shoulders now yet you are also cuban african chinese spanish english irish gibraltarian yes you are that and a lot more you are my daughter my balletic ballet ballerina expressive and graceful daughter the one who sasses back at me when we are both angry and the one who rushes to someone when they are in need of a cuddle

and the horses did i mention the horses the ones as little as your thumb thumb horses they are trotting about in your bedroom solid equus caballus tamed by your dainty hands brown horses and black and white long haired ones which you love like your mami you love unlike your papi who has never been on one you have touched their mane and fed them and that is why you looked after that toy stable we gave you for christmas years ago because you love horses galloping on their four hooves and you dream about them and you tell us about your dream the next day whilst you laugh and your laughter is clear and loud because you laugh with your entire tiny body from the tip of the longest hair follicle in your head to the tip of your big toe mi hijita querida on this day your birthday you remind of the song you liked me to sing to you about the boy who leaves havana and comes across a chinese dog that decides to follow him and how the boy falls for the dog and how he trades the dog he loves so much for a pair of shiny boots and some money and how he is sad after his money runs out and his boots break and how you ask me to explain the song to you and i tell you that it is a song about holding onto what you love and that no amount of money in the world can buy that precious thing that precious thing that is love



26 comments:

  1. A very nice tribute to someone very special in your life.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a loving expression of the way you feel about your daughter. I am now thinking of my father.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi ACIL - a delightful read ... and congratulations to you, your wife and your beloved daughter, not forgetting your son ... wonderful memories for her and of her life ... as Emma mentions: I too feel my own emotions and memories of my parents - cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy 17th Birthday to your darling daughter!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautifully expressed. I hope you printed it out, too, because it will be very precious to your daughter someday as a reminder of how very much she was loved. (sniff) Really beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a beautiful tribute! Your hijia is very lucky to have such an expressive father. May you stay strong and equally expressive as she enters the tricky realm of young womanhood.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A truly glorious tribute, with love dripping from every word.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Awww - so beautifully written! (My daughter will be 17 this year too.)

    ReplyDelete
  9. It seems one can nearly hear her laughter. Very well written, happy Birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Happy tears welled as I read the tribute to your lovely daughter. I hope she has/had a wonderful day with a future to look forward to.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wonderfully written indeed. I hope she has a great birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy 17th to your daughter. I wonder if she is actually able to tell you how much she loves this - or maybe she shrugs it off monosyllabically and reads it over and over in private!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Such lovely words. A very happy birthday to your daughter!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lovely tribute! May you enjoy a wonderful birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I like that - you are also Cuban African Chinese Spanish English Irish Gibraltarian and a lot more.
    Was listening to that song - Bola de Nieve. Love that slow music.
    Wishing the 17 year old a good and happy life ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Happy Birthday, daughter of CiL, and may you have many more. Very heartfelt words, very eloquently written .... your love for your daughter is very evident, CiL ....

    ReplyDelete
  17. Son palabra y momentos inolvidables de los que hay que ir recordando en estas celebraciones, un feliz fin de semana.

    ReplyDelete
  18. wonderful and happy birthday, to your daughter (I no longer have a teenager as my daughter turned 20 this past week)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Such a lovely post.
    Happy 17th to your daughter.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  20. Beautiful post. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. And Happy Birthday to your daughter!

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a lovely tribute.
    Happy Birthday to your daughter.

    ReplyDelete
  22. what a lovely post! and Happy Birthday to your daughter!
    my daughter is in her 20's now but she's still my 'little girl'. :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oh WOW!!
    I found this so deeply touching...it actually moved me to tears!
    Oh thank you SO much for sharing this...:))

    Wishing you an amazing weekend...

    ReplyDelete
  24. Oh! This is a lovely post!
    Well done!
    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  25. Really a beautiful blog.It is very astonishing and marvelous design.

    ดูหนัง

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...