Look
Dear Romy, my roamer.
Born in the year of the Horse, wild and free, you love to run and roam, of course.
Born into a family with two sisters, a Tiger and a Dragon, you’ve always loved company and embraced chaos.
You’ve always had a strong kick yet a twinkle to your trot.
You stand your ground yet you won’t stay in one spot.
Always on the go, you will go the distance just to make someone’s day.
Sometimes you’re all business, but most days you’re all play.
But there is more to you than meets the eye.
Just like a horse, you have the ability to see, 360 degrees.
With so much to see all around you, you nudge us to see the good that is all around us.
Always on the lookout, you like to keep a close watch.
Like the second we pull out of our driveway to go to a wonderful place you like to call Dunderland. Your eyes would be glued to the windows left, right and centre until you catch that first glimpse of those glorious rollercoasters that seem to touch the sky.
In sheer excitement and fear, you will squeal “Look!”
And just to make sure we don’t miss any of it, you will start chanting “Look, look, look, wook, wook, wook, wook!”
Like a horse, your eyes magnify everything you see.
Because of this, you remind us to see what you see. To see the big in the little things, the extraordinary in the ordinary and the big picture in every single little snapshot.
You move fast.
You hit the ground running when you started walking at 10 months, the fastest out of your sisterly bunch. Everything about you is fast yet you hate being rushed.
To you, it’s not a race, but finding your own pace and taking in every single stumble and step.
Life moves fast.
We can’t stop time, but you remind us that we can choose to slow down, stop and look around us with eyes and hearts wide open, 360 degrees, 365 days.
Romy, look!
Today you turn 4!
Born on the 28th, you keep correcting us by saying you’re turning 28.
Happy 4th Birthday, baby doll.
I’ll always see you as my baby, but I know you’ll always see yourself as a big girl. You’ve already magnified your age by 7 times.
Not quite 28, but look at how much and how beautifully you’ve already grown. Maybe I need to embrace the big in you even more. But please just also remember to slow down for appa and mommy, once in a while.
28 can wait.
Never lose sight of the big in every little thing. Share it and I promise you it will magnify to the ends of the earth.
Just as you never want me to miss any little thing that’s big in your eyes, I never want to miss any little step with you because it’s big in mine.
And of course, never stop looking.
May you find glimpses of your Dunderland, glimpses of eternity in every fleeting second of every passing day.
Though you will see many wonderful things in this wonder-filled world, one day you will clearly see that the best things are truly unseen.
In times when the thrill of a tall rollercoaster is nowhere to be seen, may your heart never lose sight and always trust that there is more to this life than meets the eye. There is something much bigger, much greater at work than we could ever see or know.
My roamer, wherever you are and wherever you go, fix your eyes inward, outward and upward. Though you can’t always see it, there is a love that is even greater, in you and magnified all around you.
360 degrees, 365 days.
J