But let's not get ahead of ourselves. You may be the oldest you can be before becoming the youngest of teens, but you still have a whole trip around the sun to enjoy it. Call it a victory lap for preteen-ness or a test drive for teen-itude, but whatever you call it, it's going to be amazing. No need to buckle up, buttercups. If it gets a little bumpy, it's all part of the fun.
First of all, how you be so big? You literally share shoes and shirts with your mom. You are a young woman. You have always been a little older on the inside than the outside and while your outside is now playing a little bit of catch up, your inside continues to grow and mature.
You are such a help around the house. You voluntarily do so much for our family. I can't imagine what we would do without you. Now that phrase gets thrown around a lot and maybe too much to the point that it takes the edge of the expression. In this case, however, it bears repeating in that I know exactly how much we would have to do if you weren't doing it for us. So it's not that I cannot imagine what we would do without you, but that I know precisely how much we would have to do if you weren't here doing it for us. You serve us in so many ways. You do the little girls' baths, you bake cookies, you make breakfast, you clean, you cuddle, you change diapers, you decorate for parties, you keep tabs, you keep lists, you take note, you pay attention.
In addition to all of that, you also write stories and play music. God has given you a vivid imagination. You can play games for hours downstairs, creating whole worlds and characters and storylines off the cuff. You are a good lyricist and come up with words for songs easily. And you remember them all. You remember the melodies and the words. You have a expansive imagination and a robust memory. You are able to do most of that which you set your mind to do. God has given you a great mind. All the more to love Him with, my dear.
You read your Bible every day and often have comments about what you read. You understand the sermons you hear and know how to think through things Biblically. You like logic and enjoy running things all the way. You push ideas all the way to the corners. This will serve you well as you grow.
You are a good big sister. The little girls all look up to you and I hope they all learn from you and grow up to be like you. They see you and your mom as their models of femininity and womanhood and I'm grateful to God for that. You are the kind of woman I would want all women to be like: smart, beautiful, faithful, loyal, helpful, careful, diligent, and fun.
You are a good baby sitter. You are a big sister to Ophelia, but you are also like a mini-mom in many ways. You love her and care for her in the ways that you can. You think about her and take her into account. You are beginning to think like a mom with eyes and ears on many moving pieces at any given point and time.
You are a great daughter. I like you. You are someone I like spending time with. You are fun to have around. You are fun to talk to and spend time with. You like to laugh and you like to learn. I am glad I get to be your dad. I'm grateful that God picked me to be your parent. I am praying for the man who will one day be your husband. He would have to be quite the man just to keep up with you, but you're not looking for someone to simply match your pace, but to outpace you and lead you. With man these things are impossible, but with God, all things are possible. If He can make a you, He can make a man who can surpass and lead you. What a pair you will make. I am excited to meet him and see the children you two will usher into existence. The grace of God abounds.
You hate feminism. I could expand on that, but why ruin a masterpiece.
You are a reading machine. You are always reading books. You like to work ahead and read tomorrow's reading today. You like to challenge yourself to read more. You like the idea of reading all the books. You come by it honestly. Your mom and I are bookish. We like to read and we like good reads. I am excited for all that you have yet to read and all that you will carry with you as you continue to grow because of what you've already read.
You like words and jokes and laughcraft. You enjoy a good pun as much as anyone and can often dish them out as well as you take them. Puns that is. You sometimes struggle with being the butt of the joke, but that's to be expected. It ain't always easy being a butt.
The Good News, however, is that we're all butts and the sooner we realized it, the happier we are. We're all jokes and the sooner we agree, the quicker we can laugh along with everyone else.
Happy 12th birthday, Penelope. Girls often read mature sooner than boys and you are often more mature than most other girls. That makes you quite the mythical beast, my friend. More rare than a unicorn and more beautiful to boot.
I love you, little lady!
Always have, always will. No matter what. Forever and ever.
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