I have always said I want to write more to my children, to leave a legacy of notes and letters for them to read in their older years. I wonder how beautiful it will be when I am gone from this earth for them to read words from my heart. As the saying goes there is no better time than now, so here it goes. 

My dearest Yadael Tolani, thank you for being my first child. Thank you for being the one who gave me the title mom. You truly make me happy. You are such a wonderful daughter. You have a lot of energy and you dance to the beat of your own drum. I named you “knowledge of God” because that was the name in my heart from God even before you were born. As you have lived seven years so far I have seen how you have grown and been a confirmation to me of the knowledge of God.

The random times when you say things and they happen or when you say something that I have no idea how you knew it and I ask you “How do you know that?” and you shrug and say passively “I don’t know.”  

You truly are special Yadael, and I want you to know how blessed I am to be your mother. You bring so much joy to my life, with your warm hugs and words of kindness always wanting to make sure I am okay. I want you to remain the caring and kind person you are, even when people mistreat you always be kind. You never want to see anyone sad around you and that is a beautiful quality, remain caring and aware of people's needs. I tell you all the time that you are special, you are a lot like me but I know you will be better than me. Even though you haven’t mastered control over your emotions yet, be confident that you will. As you grow older you will be able to, don’t get defeated when you mess up, no one is perfect. In my 33rd year of life, I keep having to remind myself that mistakes are part of life and they teach us and help us grow so don’t be hard on yourself and don’t let defeat get the best of you. 

Thank you for the card you made me this Mother’s Day, with each passing year I see growth in you and I want you to know Mama is so proud of who you are now and of who you will become because I know you are in God’s hands. 

I love you forevereverever