Greatest Gift

Today is my birthday and I am gently reminded of where I was one year ago today. Ignacio was only two weeks old, still small and warm. I just remember tears on my face with happiness as I sat on the couch with my little bundle, still in throws of getting to know him. Today, as I sit on the couch, I am watching him teeter cautiously around our living room, snuggling his bear and kitty and making me laugh. So much of my growth this past year of my life has been intertwined with the growth in his first year of life. I have been stretched in so many ways as a woman, wife and mom. Ignacio himself is not my greatest gift, rather it is all that he brings to me and my life. This past year, his presence in my life has moved me to discover new capacities within myself, face the parts of myself I am not proud of, and draw on the strengths I already new existed. I have laughed so hard I have cried and cried so hard I have had to laugh. I really think it is the true beauty of life, to be moved into greater understanding of ourselves.