A Letter to Lily June on her First Birthday

~ Ellie

Dear Lily June,

At the risk of appropriating your mother’s salutation for her own online letters to you, just let me say that I’m responding in a humble way to her request for letters – letters to be addressed to you, in honour of your upcoming first birthday.

Of course, I wish a big Happy Birthday to you on your very First, on May 13th, 2016! (Well, technically it’s the anniversary of your First Birth Day, but let’s not quibble. 😉 ) I’ve no doubt you will have a fabulous day, surrounded with love and maybe even great new toys! Okay, I’m not sure about the toys part, but I’m absolutely POSITIVE about the love part.

Because, dear Lily June – as I’m sure it’s starting to dawn on your young consciousness by now – your parents absolutely adore you. Of that, you can be sure.

So what additional wishes can I possibly add, sweet little girl? Just a couple of things my own parents taught me. Humour me!

Attitude, Lily. An attitude of gratitude. My dad used to have a sign on his dresser that said:

I cried because I had no shoes…
Until I met a man who had no feet.

I still remember that sign from sixty years ago. It doesn’t need belaboring.

Add to that my mom’s pervasive belief in the glass that’s half full. She could see the silver lining in a bucket of rust. One of her favourite sayings during tough times was: “This too shall pass.”

And everything passes, Lily. That is why we must savour every day. Every hour. Every minute. Every second.

Soak up the love, sweet girl. Soak it all up, and give some back. It goes around, and it comes around. In the end, it’s all there is. ❤ ❤ ❤

~~~~

The beautiful blog, Dear Lily June, can be found here:
https://dearlilyjune.wordpress.com/about/

22 thoughts on “A Letter to Lily June on her First Birthday”

  4. Ellie, I can’t begin to say how kind this is. I’ve been so buried–under work, under motherhood, under marriage, under house hunting, under a cloud of depression–that I’ve not been as good to you as you deserve, responding to every email and every post every time. Forgive me, I beg.

    And in the meantime, know how very truly grateful I am that you took up my plea for Lily letters. I’ll be reblogging this on my page once I catch up with some of the ones that came in before it.

    I can’t articulate how much I appreciate your nostalgia, your wit and your wisdom. What a gift, for my daughter to learn from you! Thank you!!!

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. Househunting on top of everything else! Hoo boy! Listen girl, just breathe! And you’ll get thru it I promise you! I have so much admiration for you, trying to do all that. Take it minute by minute, whenever you can… Be kind to yourSELF, don’t forget YOU. xoxoxoxo Love, Ellie

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  7. Pingback: Be Our Guest–In Which Ellie Wishes You a Joyeux Anniversaire – dearlilyjune

  9. “One of her favourite sayings during tough times was: “This too shall pass.”

    And everything passes, Lily. That is why we must savour every day. Every hour. Every minute. Every second.”

    That’s one of my favorite sayings, too. This is such a sweet letter and such good advice.

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. Loved this Ellie… especially ‘this too shall pass’.
    I learned it from my utterly beloved grandson when he was nine. He told me he’d heard the Mayor ( much disliked) give a speech when he was with his mother and my grandson said “I learned from him something really important, Grannie – this too shall pass!!”
    Out of the mouth…
    I love reading about love, and this was just that …

    Liked by 1 person

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