Milestones

Our beautiful Middle Girl turned 18 this week:

That is her, our Middle Girl, on the right. 

She was a lovely baby:

Who never slept, unless she was on or touching her Mum or her Dad.  We have photos of our Middle Girl sleeping peacefully on Her Dad's chest while he is totally jonked in front of the fire.  Our Middle Girl was a perfect baby who got everything she wanted/needed. That is how we parented all 3 of our girls - our belief that they demanded only what they needed determined how we cared for them.  It was exhausting but rewarding and, for us, absolutely right.

As a One Year Old, she was delightful:

She liked to run our MIddle Girl.  Whenever she left your arms, she would immediately run in whatever direction she was facing.  We took to leaving her in the backpack we carried her around in.  It didn't stop her running, but it slowed her enough that we could catch her up!

Our Middle Girl was/is a deep thinker.  At 5, she was interpretting books read by her kindergarten teacher as a 15 + year old. "John Brown Rose and the Midnight Cat" is a lovely Australian book meant at kindergarten/primary level to be about jealousy, new friendship and perfect for new big brothers and sisters.  At high school (and even older) it is a story about accepting death.  While all the others in Middle Girl's class are talking about jealousy, friendship, John Brown not liking the new cat etc etc our little Middle Girl pipes up and says that the story is about death and John Brown is frightened to accept death and let it in.  The teacher had to go home and look it up to see that it is exactly the meaning that the author intended!!  Frightening, her intellect....

But, our Middle Girl has been chased by her own Black Dog.  She has suffered from episodes of depression since she was 5.  At times, it has been very hard to live with our Middle Girl and her Black Dog.  We have had numerous professionals attempting to help.  They would make it better for a little while and then he was back, nipping at her heels.

Early last year, our Middle Girl attempted suicide.  Horrible, horrible, horrible does not even begin to explain how absolutely terrifying it was.  We were lucky, we didn't have enough pills in the house for her to take enough to make the event final.  Months and months and months of a long, slow, painful journey back to wellness.  Sometimes, we were close, I think, to her trying again.  Waiting for the medication to have an effect.  Hoping that this Psychologist would know her stuff and that our Middle Girl would let her in.  Painfully breathing in and slowly, ever so slowly breathing out.  And, one small step at the time, our Middle Girl came back to us.  The black hole that had opened beneath her and beneath us all began to close. 

Her birthday was the real gift.  A girl on her way to wellness, laughing, contented, open and honest again. 

Our gift to our Middle Girl was a celebration of this journey.  We gave her a Pandora Chain and some items have a special meaning:

   

Her March Birthstone.

Her first initial for her stunningly beautiful name.

For Our Middle Girl's beauty.

A locket for our love for our Middle Girl.

The Chines symbol for Happiness - our wish for our Middle Girl.

Happy 18th Birthday!

Enough for now....

Comments

[Lynne]

Happy Birthday Middle Girl!

I know how you feel; I've been there with mine!

[Barbara-Kay]

Happy Birthday, indeed! May God be good to you!

[Shelagh]

What a lovely post for a beautiful girl! I'm glad things seem to be easing for her and for you.

Love
Shelagh

[dawn]

A happy belated birthday! What thoughtful gifts. I'm sure things will be looking up for you all from now on. Put this last year behind you and look forward to a brilliant future. It's the start of your daughter's adult life and I wish her well.