Happy Birthday to my son

Dear son,
Happy Birthday! Thirty-five years ago my life was forever changed when you arrived, very reluctantly I must say, into this world. I rapidly learned about selfless giving because of you, my first-born, and found that the whole of life was much larger than my narcissistic one-ness. As I gladly embraced the role of motherhood, I enveloped you as an extension of my being, yet I was acutely aware that you were clearly your own independent and unique person.

I am profoundly amazed with you, this richly complex, warm and generous man who is my son. How can it be that my infant-child would become such an incredibly intelligent, creative, good-humored, self-assured, husband and father? How is it that I was chosen to be your mother?

When you were born, my only prayer was for you to become a loving and caring human being. That's all I wanted for you. I didn't care what degrees you would earn, how much money you would make, or whether you would be able to support me in my old age. My only desire was that you be loving and caring, for therein would lie true happiness.

My prayers were answered and your core values of compassion and empathy have informed the direction of your life. You have chosen your paths wisely, and for that I am proud.

Through the years we have both continued to change and grow. We are now in seperate worlds and our daily focus in on the immediacy of our surroundings. But there exists an ever-present mother-son connection between us, one that persists just barely under the surface of consciousness.

My mother-love for you extends beyond the limitations of the English language: Maternal love defies description or comprehension, for it is altogether a physical, spiritual, and psychic bond that will exist throughout all time. Life is a continuum. One day begets the next, one generation spawns another. We are but a small thread in this tapestry of human existence, and as the leaves change so do we continue to grow and evolve. Who knows who or where we will be tomorrow or even how many tomorrows we have?

I need you to know that, no matter what the changing seasons bring and regardless of the unknowns of tomorrow, my never-ending love for you will remain constant and, in the quiet of the night or the laughter and tears of the day, I will always be with you. You will always be my son, a partial replication of myself, my legacy.....