My Birthday Present

All I wanted for my birthday this year was to get my whole family together. So we packed up our car and headed to San Diego to splash in the sea with little cousins, chit chat with my sister, eat pancakes made by grandpa, and snuggle with grandma Linney. I can't tell you how much we all enjoyed it.

Little Butterfly was thrilled to spend the weekend in a house with a real cat. She loves cats more than anyone I've ever seen love a cat. Like if she were able to be a cat, she would. She spent three days keeping close tabs on little Hank, along with random meowing, hissing, and asking to clean "Hanky's poo poo." Now that's dedication.

On Friday my husband and I set off to the beach on our own with Little Butterfly, and I couldn't wait to take family beach walks and look for seashells together. But Little Butterfly was quite content playing with the sand, far away from the loud waves and seashells that crashed on the shore. We decided to take her lead, and allow her to have the beach experience she wanted. She dug her hands in the sand, and wiggled it between her toes. She tasted a piece of seaweed that washed on shore with a look that reminded me of biting into a lemon. This beach day will be about her, I thought.

I got the chance to take a short beach walk on my own and slung a camera over my shoulder. I followed a mama seagull watching over her babies, just like me. I dipped my feet into the water and felt refreshed as the water washed away my worries after a long, personally difficult year. When I returned Little Butterfly had her arms stretched out, waiting for me to brush off the sand and hold her close. I'm looking forward to another year being her mommy.