My Sweet Marlowe,

Double Digits have arrived! Today you are TEN. You’ve been counting down the days to this day, the special milestone heralding something unspoken for you. A little thrilling, a little frightening. I’ve been counting down the days too, but for different reasons. Like the last moments of a trip, you don’t want to end, the bittersweet sunsets before something ends and a new thing begins.

I’ve been feeling like Ten is some kind of portal. The threshold that harkens the end of one era and the beginnings of another. The first steps in the strides that will take you onwards, upwards…and away. Ten is the first birthday that I remember well. The feelings of turning Ten: the mystery of it, the honor of it, the way it felt to look back at a decade and realize that while I was only just beginning, I had also accomplished a portion of life nobody could deny me. I see you, and I feel like you are so much younger than I was at Ten, or at least younger than I felt. It makes me realize I was so young then, too. It makes me feel so many things about that.

I love everything about this phase of life with you. I love who you are, and who you want to be. I love the ways you are brave, and the ways you are soft. I love that you still want to be held, that you play with toys, and that I can overhear you for hours playing make-believe. You have such a beautiful and free imagination. You’re so clever and emotionally intelligent, and you’re so loving that I’m convinced it ruins our family of being loved by most other people. Nobody on Earth can make somebody feel more loved than you can. Your superpower is Connection. It’s finding that unique sparkle in other people, too. I love watching you delight in little babies or in your brothers the way that a parent would. You are so emotionally mature in so many ways, and also appropriately immature in others. You want to be home with us all the time. You still demand bedtime snuggles. You love your family SO much, and your best days are the ones we spend all together with all the togetherness your heart desires.

It’s so rare to find a child that really values and appreciates the time spent with loved ones the way that a wiser adult does. The little moments aren’t lost on you. Your teacher told me this year that she has never met a child who cherishes Family as much as you do, and that really touched my heart so deeply. But for all your sweetness, I really saw your Leo fire come out this year in ways that made me so deeply proud of you. Whereas you started this year of life often being frightful that you “couldn’t”, you ended this year being sure not only that you could…but that you will. The tenacity you’ve developed is amazing and inspiring, and it shows me so much of you will become as you grow into a young woman. I wish I had you to look up to when I was your age. I think we would’ve been the best of friends.

As you embark on this profound and exciting new world of Double Digits, I hope you stay true always to what makes you so special: Your quirky Goodness. Your open heart. The way you laugh easily and hard. The way you care for others, even people you’ve never met. Your fiery spirit that doesn’t back down.

I love you so much. The best parts of my life began with yours, and sharing it with you is the greatest gift there is. Happy Birthday, Baby. Here’s to so many adventures, cake with no icing, and Best Friends For Ever.

Photographs by Julia Dags | Copyright © 2024 Happily Eva After, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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